Tales of Love
by Xirch2009
Summary: "The Score shows only one path of many", Ion had said. What if that really was the case? What if Arietta didn't die and was given a chance of retribution when she learns the truth behind Van's sinister plot? Will she and the other God-Generals be able to overcome their own vendettas to stop Van, or will history go as planned? Find out in this original story! Rate/Review
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER:** I DO NOT OWN ANY PART OF TALES OF THE ABYSS. If I had, then this would have been the canon story. Because the God-Generals are too epic for what happened to them in the original story.

**Tales of Love**

Prologue: The Duel

"Mother... I will avenge you! I promise!" I said as the four of us stepped inside where my mother had recently lived, fought and died. By the four of us I meant: myself, my mediator Largo (who was a huge man of over 2 metres) and two of my monster friends, one a huge, blue phoenix called Hresvelgr and the other a Liger, he seemed about as agitated as myself at the thought of the battle that was about to unfold.

"Remember, Arietta," Largo said, "If you want to, I can fight with you. There is no need for you to throw your life away like this."

We'd both had a premonition, but I was ready. After all, I had nothing else left in my life. My home had been eaten by a tidal wave when I was but one year old, my biological parents dying with it, and I'd been found by the Liger queen, who had saved me and raised me as her own daughter. I had eventually been found by a man called Vandesdelca, or "Van" as he preferred to be called by his friends, who had heard of my abilities to communicate with monsters, and had decided to help me.

"No, Largo," I said, "this is my fight. I will not lose... I... cannot lose... for Ion..." the name stung my heart like a knife. He had been the only person I'd loved, but now he was dead. It was all the same cause as my Mother's death: Anise freaking Tatlin! She had killed my mother, she had taken my position as Ion's guardian, and her actions had caused his death. I hated her! That was why I had came here today, to finally finish our fight once and for all.

"I understand your suffering, but are your feelings really worth dying for? Many people would be sad if you died." Largo said.

The two monsters growled, "Well, and of course the monsters would be heartbroken." He added quickly, remembering the last time he had made them angry. That time, the rest of the God-Generals literally had to drag them away from him.

"I don't know... I don't want to do this, but still... I must! I have to do this, Largo." I replied coolly and harshly.

Largo was right, though: Legretta would probably be sad to see me die, as would Largo obviously and maybe even Van. I was unsure how Asch would react, but I knew Sync would not give a damn about my life, seeing as he hated his own. I had never seen him happy.

"What would your mother say if she heard you talk like that?" Largo scolded, "She loved you, Arietta. She would never want you to die."  
I couldn't reply. I did not know what to say back to him.

I heard footsteps. "She must be here," a female voice said. I recognised it instantly: Anise!

Just then I saw her small figure enter the room, looking ready to fight, yet at the same time, as pained an expression as mine. Was this really the right thing to do?  
Behind her I saw her companions; Luke, who really reminded me of Asch, Tear – Van's younger sister. There also were Guy, Jade and – Largo staggered here – Princess Natalia.

"So you did come after all!" I said, "Anise! Let's end this! I challenge you to a duel to the death, for Ion... For EVERYONE!" following this I called to Largo: "Begin the battle!"

"We will fight three-on-three, Anise! I will fight with all my friends, and so will you!" I yelled.

The small girl with black ponytails looked sad, yet at the same time both angry and relieved, she hesitantly called Luke and Tear to aid her in the battle.

The battle was not what I had expected it to be. It was as if Anise was letting me win: at one point, her Tokunaga (her huge robotic doll which she used as a weapon) could have hit me for mortal damage, but mere seconds before the blow connected, she had slowed down the attack.

We were all fighting one enemy: my Liger was combatting Luke and the two seemed like a huge ball of blows as sword and claws connected. Hresvelgr was likewise fighting Tear and their fight was more a clash of spells. I knew Tear had to be taken out first, since she was the healer.

"When in battle, always defeat the supporting troops," Legretta had once told me.

I knew what I had to do, and yet I did not want this. Some part of me was fighting against me as I launched a spell at my rival.

"Take this, traitor! _Bloody Howling,_" I yelled and in that instant, Anise was enveloped in a sea of dark and purple (which really fit with her clothing, I must say), but her Tokunaga took most of the blows.

I had missed even when my target was right in front of me, what was happening to me? I didn't realise that Anise had recovered so quickly that she took advantage of my inner conflict and countered with her Tokunaga's attack, a blow so powerful it sent me flying and knocked the breath out of me.

"M-mommy..." I said and for a second I felt I relived the grief I had felt when I had learned of her death.

_It had been a beautiful morning, and I had been feeling happy for the first time in ages, until a few minutes after noon, Legretta suddenly entered my room, her expression grievous and very uneasy. _

_"What's happened?" I asked her. It was not like her to show emotions, she always taught me that to show your feelings is a sign of weakness, then why was she showing them now? _

_"!" a sudden thought struck me like lightning from the skies on a warm summer day, but I was too frightened to think it. However, Legretta soon confirmed my worst fears when she just nodded and said: "Take a few days off, Arietta. I pity you."  
_

_"Legretta? No, you can't be saying-" I cried, clinging to her shoulders, tears flowing down my face. _

_Normally, she would have punished me for that behavior, but this time she just sighed, "Arietta. I am sorry to say this, but your mother is no longer alive."  
_

_Sheesh, she didn't have to say it like that. The rest of the day, I was feeling terrible. I was alone again, motherless and fragile. Many of the God-Generals visited me that day, in fact all except Sync. All I heard of him was that he was out scouting as always. Not that I really cared, though._

_I was so sad that I ignored their comforting words. What meaning did "The pain will go over," or "We're here for you," do when you have just lost the only thing close to your mother?  
_

_Nothing they said had any effect; Dist's jokes were not funny anymore (OK, I confess! I only laughed at them because he looked sad when everyone regarded him as an idiot), Largo's words of comfort were only making the pain worse, and Legretta's "tactical advice" sounded like it was taken out of a self-help booklet, which by the way, I later found out was the truth. _

_As much as I love and respect her now, she never was the best person to go to when you're sad, as I would later learn. Asch's silence was just annoying me. "Listen, death is just part of life. Deal with it." Was all he said to me before he left? Honestly!  
_

_I only broke my silence when the last person I expected to come entered my room. "I guess we're both empty now."  
_

_I looked up and saw a boy clad in black with green spiky hair. A mask covered his face and his expression was without mercy or any emotion at all. He made Legretta look like a Drama Queen._

_I did not know what to answer him, other than "I guess so..."  
_

_Sync looked at me and for a second I felt there was a sign of pity in his gesture, but then he quickly said "What're you staring at?" and left for the door. I didn't understand that boy. He was two years younger than me, and yet he was so filled with hatred. I wondered what had happened to him that made him this way. _

_"There's only room for one empty being. And I have that role. Stop whining and make yourself useful!" those were his last words to me before he left me._

"_What right have you to criticize me?" I yelled after him. Just then, I felt. The power Sync had spoken of; the power of anger and hatred. I knew that were I to wield that power, mother would be avenged and I would never again experience tragedy!_

"...Ietta... ake up..." I heard Largo's voice and felt strong hands shake me awake, "Arietta, please wake up."

I opened my eyes, but immediately closed them again. All was but a blurry mess, and millions of thoughts were colliding inside my head.

"She's awake!" Largo cried out to someone behind him. Just then I realized I was no longer in the Cheagle Woods, but at our headquarters. In my room, to be exact, and dressed in a beautiful blue dress with long sleeves, which I recognised belonged to Legretta.

"W-what happened?" I asked with a lot of effort. As far as I knew, my body was covered in wounds. These were not from Anise, I knew that because her Tokunaga wasn't equipped like that and I had fought her enough times to know. Largo was silent.

"Please, tell me..."

The colossal man looked away, "you almost died, Arietta. Just after you had taken the damage from Anise's attack, another Liger appeared out of nowhere. When it saw you down, it flew on you, aiming for your throat. I managed to hit it with my weapon, but I wasn't strong enough to hold it off on my own."

I could tell he was slightly embarrassed, "I fought to keep it away from you, but it pushed me back. It almost killed me," then I noticed the fact that indeed, his right arm was bandaged.

"In fact it would have done so, hadn't The Necromancer cast a Mystic Cage on it. The attack merely staggered it, and it kept on its assault. As it aimed for you once more, your own Liger stood in its way, and for a while they fought, but the enemy's strength was superior and... I am sorry..."

So I had lost another of my friends in the attack, why? Why did I have to keep on losing everyone I cared about? I bowed my head, but no tears came. Either I was too shocked or too tired to cry, probably both.

"I am sorry for causing you trouble," I said. I felt terrible, my Liger had died to save me, all because I had been such a selfish little brat and only thought of revenge,

"Anything else?" I asked, my voice cold.

Largo nodded, "In fact. When you saw that, you rose up, despite your wounds. None of us knew what happened, but all of a sudden you let out a burst of energy, which drove the monster away. Then, you collapsed again. What was the scariest part of it all was... the Liger that attacked you was your adopted father."

I had known that the king hated me because my body was weak and I used to lack the wish to kill mercilessly like the rest of the pack, so it was no surprise he had tried to kill me. "So, he decided to finish me off, huh?" a sudden thought struck me, "Wait, what happened to Anise and the others?"

"Worried about them?"

I reflected on that for a moment. While it is true that I still held some grudges against Anise and her friends, they had fought to help me. As much as I despised them, I currently owed them my life. Pretty ironic, isn't it? After all, these past months, all I've thought about was how to kill them in the most painful way possible, and now I was indebted to them. I felt happy that I was alive, something I had not felt for a long time.

"Did they die?" I said at last.

Largo shook his head, "Luke got bitten in the arm, but his wounds were healed by Tear. Anise's Tokunaga, however, was torn to shreds. She seemed to be the one who was the most concerned out of the group and after I had seen them off, she returned to give me a letter. Here you go, by the way."  
He said and handed me the document. It was a small, pink envelope with the words _**"To Gloomietta from Anise**_". Somehow, the word "Gloomietta" made me laugh a little bit.

"I will read it n- ugh!" I said as a sudden surge of pain flew through my whole body. The last thing I remembered before I passed out again was Largo telling Legretta to watch over me. But before I lost consciousness, I thought I saw someone who looked like Ion.

**Author's Notes:** All right. This is the first chapter. Thanks to the reviews, I figured out what to do to make my story readable.  
Anyway; Arietta is my favorite character - as are all the God-Generals, and I really wanted them to live and join the protagonists.


	2. Chapter 1: Betrayal

Chapter 1: Betrayal

It was late afternoon when I woke up again. "Morning, sleeping beauty," Legretta mocked me.

She had apparently been healing my wounds while I was out, and to that I was very grateful. Thanks to her, I was able to actually move.

"You should thank Sync as well. He provided me with a very important healing herb. Without it, you would still be unable to move," she said.

"Sync was here too?" I asked her, surprised that he had actually bothered to see me, let alone help me.

Legretta nodded, "You know, I was worried you would die there. It would be bad to lose another powerful comrade." She was of course referring to Master Van, who'd fallen into the core. However, so had Sync, and yet he was alive and well. I tried to comfort her with that.

"Do not worry about me," she said. "A soldier who shows emotion is a poor soldier. Even if the commandant does not regain his physical form, we will still succeed in destroying the Score. I will see to that!"

I instantly felt stupid, "I did not mean it like that. I just know what it feels like to lose someone important to you."

"As have everyone else. All the God-Generals are tied merely out of hate for the Score. We have all lost something important to us because of it." Legretta shrugged. I could see this was an uncomfortable subject for her, I had tried to ask her what it was she had lost, but she would always get angry with me. "It is none of your business! It is between me and commandant Grants!" she would answer me.

"Anyway, you said that Sync was here?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.  
She nodded, "Yeah. He should still be here if he's not gone out hunting again." Then she actually laughed, "Of course if Hresvelgr will allow it. She always was against him killing weaker monsters."

I stood up and took my letter. I wanted to find Sync and thank him for helping me. I had recovered enough to walk, and as long as I did not get into any fights, I would be all right, Legretta had told me.

Sync was in the garden, sitting in a tree – or more like hanging from it like a bat. Apparently, he had gotten a new mask, as he now wore it. "So you didn't die after all," he said. Between him and Asch I was unsure who annoyed me more, but if I had to choose, Sync would surely come out on top. Asch was actually pretty nice as long as you didn't get him angry, which was a little too easy.

"That dress looks nice on you," he said.

"Thank you."

He shrugged, "For what? I merely pointed out a fact. Honestly, I don't get you at all."

"For the compliment and for helping me, Legretta told me," I smiled, and it felt so weird to smile again after not doing it for so long. I wondered if smiling was something you learned and could never forget and once you had smiled once, you knew how to do it the rest of your life.

"If that's all, then call of your annoying bird. It has been pestering me this whole afternoon!" he said, and indeed, Hresvelgr was circling around him. "Ha! I think she likes you," I called out.

Sync jumped down from the tree, "Shut up!" he yelled, "I was born a piece of meat! Nobody would ever like ME! Especially not some stupid monster." With that he walked off, leaving me alone with Hresvelgr.

What was wrong with him?

The sun had already gone down, but I didn't feel tired at all. I was still angry after what Sync had said and I needed some time for myself, so I took Hresvelgr with me for a walk. She looked happy to see me well again, and circled around me to show her love.

"There, there, Hresvelgr. I am glad you're safe as well." I said as I patted her on her head. I loved animals, not just monsters, but regular animals too. Whenever I saw a squirrel, I wanted pet it.

The moon was shining brilliantly, a crescent of mystic light. It was a moon whose beauty I had forgotten, its silver rays illuminating this world. The chill was very refreshing as it blew through my long, pink hair and I felt like I could stand here forever, but I also knew that at one point, the other God-Generals would go searching for me.

"Shall we head back?" I asked Hresvelgr, who seemed more than content with the proposal.

Not much happened on the way back. I did not encounter any monsters or other living beings and our walk was concluded in peace. All was well, until suddenly, I saw a figure walk through the darkness. By the slender body build, I knew it could only be either Sync or Legretta. All of a sudden, I felt uneasy, but I wanted to see what was happening, so I climbed up a tree until I was on par with the meeting hall and hid there, invisible to everybody else. The room was occupied by Largo and Mohs and I could feel my blood pressure rise when I saw Legretta joining them, carrying some sort of orb.

"What're you doing, you idiot?" Sync's voice almost made me fall out of my hiding place. Darn! He had found me... "N-nothing," I replied. He wasn't convinced, and I was about to ask him the same question, when he suddenly put his hand over my mouth. "Be quiet, or they'll find us! If that happens..." he said and made a cutting throat gesture. I nodded, too scared to oppose him.

From our observation point, we could both hear and see everything that was going on: Legretta put the orb down, Mohs put some sort of spell on it and Largo put his hands together in prayer.

"What're they doing?" I whispered.

Sync did not know, "but I do not like the looks of it," he mused.

All of a sudden, the orb started shining and to my surprise I saw Van appear, clad in some sort of black battle armor.

"How long has it been since I've been able to maintain a physical form again?" he asked.  
What was he talking about? I wondered, but then it all made sense: Van had "died" when he fell into the Planet's Core, just like Sync, and yet if former – who was more physically fragile than Van – had survived, why didn't I realise Van had as well?

"Commandant Grants! Welcome back!" Largo said and knelt before him like a loyal dog before his master.  
Had it been under different circumstances, the scene would have been pretty comical: the massive man who was powerful enough to probably lift an entire building, kneeling like that.

"Largo, stand up. You have no reason to bow before me." Van said in a tone that implied that he was ashamed of his subordinate's performance. He then turned to Legretta, "thank you for keeping them disciplined in my absence," he said half-sarcastically, half-serious. I knew he wasn't joking, he never did. Had Largo and Legretta not been so important to him, he would surely have executed them both on the spot for not pleasing him.

"I am sorry, commandant," Legretta said, her expression pained at being scolded.

Van looked at her and stroked her cheek. From behind me, I could hear Sync making a sound like someone had shoved something small, slimy and disgusting down his throat. I chuckled; regardless of what he tried to be, he was still just a child. "There, I am back now, Legretta. We will destroy the Score together: All the God-Generals, as a family."

"Family..." Legretta repeated with her voice distant, "Thank you, commandant."

Van smiled, but not in a kind way. His smile was more like a predator that had just downed its prey and was about to land the killing blow. He had changed: the Van I had known was like an older brother to me, always caring about me and the rest of our group. This Van that I was eavesdropping on now was different: his voice lacked that compassion it once had and his eyes were cold. This Van was not the one Legretta loved. I wished I could tell her, but Sync grabbed my hand.

"Are you stupid? If they catch us, they'll kill us both!" he whispered. I tried to protest, but he was certainly strong despite his young age.

"It's better to be in hiding for now, and learn the most."  
I hated to admit it, but Sync was right.

"We have started the replication project, sir," Mohs said. "Thousands of Replicas are being created every day by Dist."

"Good, keep it up. Once we kill Lorelei, we will be able to finally destroy the original world and make the ideal planet: Then and only then, when the Score is dead, shall our goal be reached," he turned to Largo, "you will be able to live with your wife again. You, Mohs, will have the prosperity you want, and become The Fon Master, as you have always craved for and..."

he turned to Legretta and stroked her hair, "...you will see your brother again and watch over the world by my side."

Legretta's eyes widened, and I saw that her eyes were welling up, but then I saw the smile on her face. "Thank you, commandant," was all she said.

However, she soon noticed something peculiar in the conversation: "Wait, what about Dist, Asch, Sync and Arietta? Won't they be part of our world?"

Van turned away, seemingly trying on a facade of sadness. "They are walking their own paths. They claim to be our allies, but their hearts are not one with ours. I believe they will have to... prove themselves to me in order to achieve a place in my new world."  
Largo seemed shocked, but Legretta only replied that perhaps it was best this way.

"That damn bastard! I'll kill him myself!" Sync said, punching his fist into the tree. "He plans to let us die, to be wasted as the trash we are to him!"

I could not believe it, myself. How could Van say such a thing?

"So I _was_ nothing but trash!" Sync yelled in outrage, and I had to make an effort to restrain him.

"Who's there?" I heard Van say. Great job, Sync, you genius! You just gave us away.

"Intruders," Legretta said, and fired two bullets in our direction. None of them hit any of us, but it did knock us down from the tree.

"Why did you give us away?" I asked him as we ran, Legretta firing bullets after us. She seemed to be in some sort of hypnotised state, not even realising that she was firing at us.

"We have to fight her!" Sync said, but I knew better. I was aware that it was pure suicide to attack Legretta; she never missed her targets and to make matters worse, she was the strongest of all the God-Generals. There was no way that Sync would defeat her. I told him he shouldn't, but he just would not listen.

"Shut up! Stone Dragon Ascent!" he yelled and punched his fist down with such power that the ground opened up, giving birth to a serpent-like monster made of pure earth. It constricted Legretta before it crashed into her, causing her to fall down and drop her guns.

"Now!" he yelled while Legretta was busy recovering from the attack.

"Gates of darkness – open up! _Negative Gate!_" The spell was a success and a purple ball appeared over Legretta's head, letting out a damaging aura while at the same time preventing my enemy from escaping. "Forgive me, Legretta..." My eyes welled up. Never had I imagined I would have to fight _her_.

"Come on! We gotta go!" Sync got hold of my arm, "she's recovering already!"

It all happened too fast: Legretta got up and shot a few bullets after us, I knew Hresvelgr was flying above us, but not fast enough to come to our aid. Nor were we too fast to avoid them. When we were as far as the forest, Legretta had managed to catch up with us.

"You will not escape! _Holy Lance!_" she cried out and summoned eight spears right above our heads. They crashed down on us and we flew in our separate directions. I got blown into a tree, my head span and I could feel my consciousness slipping away fast. There was no escape, and I knew it.

If only there was a clearing, I could summon Hresvelgr and fly away on her. I could escape to any town or city and... what then? Try to live normally? I did not have time to think as another bullet flew into the tree, only missing my head by an inch.  
Due to the darkness, I couldn't see where Legretta was and thus could not cast any spells at her.

"Got you now, traitor!" she said and got ready to fire another bullet at me. This time she would not miss and we both knew it.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the end.


	3. Chapter 2: The Grand Escape

Chapter 2: The grand escape

"Don't even think about it!" Sync said, and I opened my eyes to see him fighting Legretta. "Wake up, Legretta! He's using us all!"

The female God-General grunted as her enemy's fist hit her in the stomach, but her body was strong and resilient, and she recovered too fast for Sync to land another blow. With a yell of pure rage, she fired off a bullet right into his left leg. He let out a scream of pain and crouched, clenching his wounded leg. "Damn you!" he muttered.

This had given me enough time to cast another of my spells: _"Hammer of light, Limited!"_ I cried out, hitting Legretta head-on. This time, she seemed to actually recognise me. "A-Arietta?" she asked and her eyes widened. _So she _was_ hyponotised by Van!_ I thought and crouched down to my wounded superior.

"You must leave... now... my orders are to eliminate the both of you."

She glanced at Sync, "I am sorry... but please escape... Otherwise, I'll have to kill you..." her eyes showed remorse.

"Escape Daath... live a free life, Arietta and Sync. I hereby... relieve you... of your duties as... God-Generals..." she said and threw me a small object which I at the time was too confused to identify.

"Legretta! Why do you hesitate? Kill them!" Van's voice boomed through the forest and I knew that in a matter of minutes, he would be here.

"Commandant... They are too strong! (Escape now!)" she said, the last part being a whisper to me.

With tears in my eyes, I took the wounded and protesting Sync in my arms and ran for the forest. I knew that soon Legretta would be forced to chase us again, and now with Van hounding her actions, she would have to kill us.

"Shut up and be of more use!" I snapped at Sync. To my surprise, he actually shut it, probably realising the danger he had got us into.

"You won't escape!" Van yelled and from the corner of my eyes, I could see him chasing us alongside Legretta. But where was Largo?  
I did not have time to think, because that instant, Van cast one of his spells and knocked us both down to the ground.

"Now, I have no more use for you two. You shall die like the dreck you are!" Van's voice was directly above us.

"Die! Imperial sla-" he did not finish his sentence as just then, something big and solid rammed into his body, knocking him away. Regaining my movement, I opened my eyes and stood up, helping Sync as well.

"Go! Now! I'll hold them off here!" Largo had intervened with the execution and was fighting off Van. Legretta had seemingly been knocked out by the blast, but I knew she was faking... or, I wanted to believe.

"Largo! No!" I yelled, hot tears dripping down from my eyes and making their way down my cheeks, "Please stop! You'll die!"

The colossal man smiled a fatherly smile, "I shall not perish here. I have survived many opponents more worthy than him!" he said. Largo was on our side, I knew. He was wearing his battle armor and was fighting for the two of us. As I was on the brink of my indecision, Sync spoke:

"Are you stupid? He's letting us escape!"

Van had recovered from the attack and turned to the offensive. Largo was an excellent warrior, and had more experience and skill than the commandant, but his foe was much smaller and nimbler. Every time Van slashed, Largo could predict where he would strike and block with his scythe before pushing Van away, but Van had agility on his side and avoided Largo's more deadly blows. Both men were fighting to kill; the only time I had seen Largo fight like that was when we'd fought Luke's group on Mt. Roneal.

Van growled like a monster – oh wait! He was one! "I'll destroy you, Largo! Imperial Slaughter!"  
"Brimstone Tempest!" Largo shouted and executed his Mystic Arte at the same time as Van.

The impact of two attacks of such immense strength was too much for Mother Nature to handle, and in a split second it looked like the ground itself had joined the battle. It felt like time itself was standing still. Largo blinked to me, saying some words I could not hear. Then, the two moves collided, causing an immense explosion, and the rest I don't remember.

I woke up in a wide field filled with flowers. Surprisingly, I had no wounds from the blast and not even a single fabric of my clothing had been damaged. As far as I knew, the mythril infused in my dress had softened the impact. That was the only logical explanation until I saw Sync. "Oh Lorelei!" I uttered; unlike me, he was a complete mess. His whole body was covered in bruises and wounds and part of his face had been charred. His shirt had been burned to a crisp, but other than that he was fine. No! He was _NOT_ fine. He was barely conscious of his surroundings and with all the blood he was losing, I knew he would not survive to see the end of the day unless I did something to help him... but where could I find the necessary help? All I had – what WE had – were our clothes and my monster doll which Legretta had thrown me. Sync moaned something inaudible, perhaps delusional dreams. I checked his forehead and realised he was burning up. "Hang in there, Sync..." I whispered in his ear. I would find a way to save him, no matter how difficult it wouldn't be.  
First I needed to know where we were. I called out to Hresvelgr, but my trusted bird did not come. _She might not even be alive, stupid,_ I thought. I had to scout the area somehow while maintaining what was left of Sync's health. I felt like such an egoist: so many people had died or suffered because of my own weakness these few past days, my Liger, Sync, Largo – I doubted he would survive the encounter with Van, and Legretta would be punished for her indecision.  
I looked down at Sync and screamed when I saw his mask had fallen off.

"N-no! This is impossible!" I screamed when I looked down at... Ion? No, the body was Sync's, but the face... Why did Sync have the same face as Ion?

My yell had not been the wisest choice of action, as it had attracted a monster: a big wolf with beautiful silver fur.

"W-wait! I am not an enemy!" I said. The wolf didn't care, apparently. I could communicate with him, but he was hungry and needed food. Neither of us looked like formidable opponents, he thought, so he had targeted us as his next meal. I was shocked to see a monster I could not befriend, that I was forced to kill. I knew it was either him or us, and if I did not defeat him, he would surely bite over Sync's throat.

"How can you kill someone who is unconscious and cannot defend himself?" I asked the wolf, but he took my words for provocation and lunged at me, saying that if I cared so much for "my boyfriend" I could die first.

That made me snap. "He-is-not-my-BOYFRIEND!" I yelled in pure rage, and without thinking about it, cast a Negative Gate. However, unconsciously, I'd entered into a state of overlimits from my rage and followed up my spell with a Mystic Arte; "Feel mommy's pain! _Big Bang!_" In a matter of seconds a wave of pure energy hit the monster, which then fell like a wooden plate.

"I... I give up! Please, I beg you... don't kill me! Please!" he whimpered when he came to and saw me. My attack had been hesitant and thus it had not killed him, but merely knocked him out for a brief while. Within that time, I had found the strength to kill some lesser monsters. They all were hostile, not like my friends.  
The poor wolf must have been scared silly when he woke up to see me cooking something in a pot which I had produced through magic. "You not gonna eat me, are you, girl?" he said worriedly when he saw my smile. Honestly, I must've looked like a real devil with that grin.

"Maybe, maybe not... Depends on what reasons you have to stay alive." I bluffed, of course I was not going to eat him. He probably knew the area much better than me, and besides, I wanted to be his friend. I never was a big fan for mindless slaughter, which was Sync's role. Over the time, I had cast a few healing circles on Sync to stop his bleeding and heal his wounds. I had gotten some herbs with healing properties that I had put over his wounds. Now all I had to do was deal with the illness he was afflicted with. That seemed like a good place to start.

"Hey, monster!" I said in an intimidating tone, "My friend here is suffering from some kind of illness. Do you know what it is?"

The wolf walked up to Sync and sniffed him.

"Indeed. This young one must have contracted Mandragora Illness. 'Tis rare to see, but once one gets affected, they often die. He must have got it when he got to close to one. Their petals are said to cure any illness and fully heal a person's wounds."

Realisation struck me like a _Thunder Blade_ out of the blue. Sync had woken up first and caught a Mandragora to strip it of its petals to... help me? During the process, he must have been afflicted by the disease.

"Say, fiend, would a Mandragora petal heal the disease?"

The wolf did not know, but I saw he was hiding something. He was starting to get on my nerves, it would be nice if he could become more helpful just about now, so I threatened him again, claiming if he did not tell all he knew, he would be obliterated by my Mystic Arte again. Of course, I knew that should I cast it after such a short interval, the fatigue would knock me out and I would lose my only opportunity to save Sync.

"Ack! Okay, okay! I will tell you all I know! Here, in the Tataroo Valley, there are many of these Mandragoras. Well, you know what? Their petals heal everything, and I mean _everything_ – except from death of course, nothing heals that unless you're a very strong Seventh Fonist, that is." The wolf bared its fangs to smile.

"Those fiends are dangerous. I doubt a little girl like you could defeat them."

"Humph! Such impudence! Just because of my petite size, it does not mean I am weak!" I said, "I am going to save Sync, and not only that, but you – monster, are coming with me!"

"What? I, Fenrir, serve only myself!"

I smirked, "I can always show you what other Fonic Artes I have."

"Eep! Okay, okay! I promise, I will serve you, mistress... eh... what are you called again?"

"Arietta, and you?"

"Fenrir, the scourge of wolves!" The monster said proudly. I wanted to laugh at its naivety. It had no idea who I truly was, and yet it was helping me.

And thus, I got the beast's aid. But please, Sync... Please survive. For Largo's sake and for mine too.

**Author's Notes:** OK, there is a lot of action going on now. Soon the real story is going to begin. In our next chapter, we'll meet Asch.  
From there, it will be much better!


	4. Chapter 3: Amends

Chapter 3: Amends

"What are you saying, you don't KNOW?" I asked bewildered when I realised we had been walking in circles for the past forty minutes. Fenrir sure had some explanation to do!

"Um... This is slightly awkward, but... my sense of direction is kind-of... bad." Fenrir said, and if monsters could blush, he certainly did now.

Because of his bad senses, we had been attacked by more monsters than I could count. Granted, I never was much of a genius at maths, but we'd attracted over twenty monsters because of our constant arguing. For a while there, I even missed Anise.

"Say, Fenrir... do you even know where Mandragoras nest?" I asked after yet another hour of fruitless search. Now that I recognised the area, we moved at a faster pace. My plan was that once I healed Sync, I would move over to Engeve. Perhaps I could settle down there and forget my life as a God-General.  
And then what? One day, surely either Asch or Luke would come there, find me and my past would resurface.

I had to put my thoughts on hold because just that moment, we saw a humanoid figure – or rather, its head and legs were human. Its main body was that of a flower. I might not have been too good at mathematics, but I loved to read – especially about monsters. I instantly recognised it for being a Mandragora, and tried to sneak up on it and capture it. All we needed was one petal, so we just had to hide, wait and pluck. Following that all we would need to do is run like our lives depended on it, which in fact they did. If their pollen got into our lungs, we would contract the disease as well.¨

Of course things did not go according to plan, because Fenrir had to startle the Mandragora away when he sneezed. I never wanted to kill a monster as badly as now, but we had to push on or Sync would die.  
We finally managed to trap the Mandragora. It certainly was not easy, but with the help of Fenrir, we managed to sandwich it between two trees. However, not everything was as planned.

"Now, we'll just need some petals from you and we'll release you." I said in a calm voice, but the monster was too terrified to listen, and instead of cooperating, it let out an ear-piercing scream.  
I covered my ears, but Fenrir ran away – and for he had a good reason for it, too, because suddenly, the mountain in front of me exploded and out came a huge Stone Golem. It skipped formalities entirely and went directly on the offensive.

I knew I could not win. My Fonic Artes were not fast enough to pull off before its mighty fists sent me flying. I held up my monster doll, calling for aid, but all the monsters in the valley were too terrified of this brute to even try and stand against him. God-General or not, I was not prepared for a battle against such a massive monster. Had only my Liger been here...

The golem took a boulder and threw it after me. Thankfully, I was the opposite of Largo in every sense and thus, I was the best of all the God-Generals to evade attacks. Legretta had tried to teach me defense, but my body was too weak to endure continual strong hits.

"_Oh hellion's roar: Bloody Howling!"_ I yelled and fired off the Fonic Arte on the Golem, but it seemed unaffected by it. I found a terrified Mandragora and without thinking about it, aimed it at my pursuer and squeezed the poor monster, which let out another scream and released a yellow blast of pollen.  
My strategy had been a good idea, because as luck had it, I had hit the monster's weakness and for now it was weakened.

"_Oh radiant spear: Holy Lance!"_I yelled out of impulse, not realising that I had not yet fully mastered this arte, but no matter, the attack Legretta had taught me prior to my duel had worked like a charm and hit the monster. The Golem knew better than to keep it up and grudgingly left.

The poor Mandragora had only been traumatized. "Will you please give me your petals now? I promise you, he won't attack you again."

"A-are you sure, miss?" the monster squeaked. It was so cute that I felt my heart melting at the sight of it.  
I nodded, "Yes. I promise."

"T-then please take these, then. This is our reward to you for saving us." The monster said and closed its eyes. Before I could figure out what it was doing, it sang in an angelic voice, soon to be joined by the rest of the Mandragoras that formed a choir of voices. It took me a while to realise that my injuries had healed: they were actually singing fonic hymns, just like Tear could.

"This song will heal both you and your friend," a Chirpee squawked.

The Mandragora I had saved also shedded some petals. I figured this was my reward for saving them. Ha ha ha! It certainly felt good to help someone out!

"You sure took your time." Sync said when I was back. "By the time you took, I got better on my own," he shrugged with that sneer on his face.

I wanted to slap Sync, really hard too, but stopped when I realised he had the same face as Ion.

"Is something the matter?" he asked me. I sat down and handed him the petals, "Use these. You'll feel much better."

He showed some signs of protest, but something about my voice made him obey. When he was done and really fully healed, he sat down next to me.  
The sun had gone down and I had made us a small campfire to keep the cold air away.

"I guess you saw my face, huh?" Sync commented, pointing to where his mask had been.

"Why do you look like Ion, Sync? I-I don't understand." My voice broke. How could Largo and the others not tell me about this.

"Like I'll tell you," he replied, but once he did that, I really did slap him.

"Shut up, Sync! Just shut up! I just saved your life, and this is how you treat me? We are supposed to work together now! The other God-Generals are after us!" I yelled, shaking him.

"I-I didn't... I wasn't-"

"Answer me, Sync! Why did you not tell me?" My voice broke and as much as I hated it, tears started flowing down my face.

"Why do you care? After all, I am but a worthless piece of shit!" he said, punching the ground.

"Why do I care? I just saved your life! I almost got killed myself... And... why did you save my life first?"

Sync flinched as if I had hit him again. "Shit! I knew I should have made it less obvious it was me!"

I laughed, though probably out of desperation. "Sync, why DID you save me?"

He looked away, "Shut up! I didn't do it 'cause I wanted to. I did it because otherwise Largo would wring my neck and, well... It'd be painful. Also, I need your magic so I can kill Van."

"You know," I said, wiping the tears away and smiling now, "For one who hates his life, you have made many attempts to preserve it."

"I-" he was interrupted by a booming sound.

"What the hell is that?" he asked.  
Unfortunately for the both of us, I knew it too well. It was-

"Arietta! You pathetic girl! You dare show your worthless face here again?" daddy!

A colossal Liger with four bat wings flew gracefully from the sky and landed on our campsite, extinguishing the fire.

"Now you will finally be of some use to me! Feed me, Arietta!" he growled.

We stood no chance against him. Father was much more mighty than mother. He did not flinch from our attacks and could send us flying with but a flap of his wings and if anything, he seemed to be enjoying this.

"Stone dr-" Sync got zapped by a huge thunderbolt the Liger had summoned from the blue, crashing hard on the ground, but getting up again and flew on the monster, yelling threats and curses and all other informal language his vocabulary contained. I tried some of my artes, but none of them seemed to work on him.

"Die, children. I shall feast upon you tonight!" he said and homed in for the kill.

"Over my dead body!" a familiar voice said, _"Oh, frigid blades pour forth: Icicle Rain!"_ suddenly, out of the sky fell an uncountable amount of icicles that hit Father and knocked him out of the air, but other than that he took no damage.

"Damn! It didn't kill him!" Out of the shadows, I could spot a male figure.

"_Eruption!"_ he yelled, not even bothering to say the Fonic Chant to cast the spell. It crashed down on Father hard, but again he merely shrugged off the damage. Now in the light of the flames, I could spot our unexpected ally. He was a man not much taller than I, and about the same age, with long, crimson hair and wearing black and red armor.

"Asch!" I cried out while I fired off a _Bloody Howling_ at Father.  
Suddenly, I had a feeling we could win this fight. If Asch the bloody would help us, then even Father would eventually fall.

"Stay out of this, _human_!" Father yelled and fired off a lightning bolt at Asch, who simply drew his sword and knocked the attack away.

"Never!" with that, Asch leapt up in the air and fired off another _Icicle Rain_ at the monster. "Now," he said, "Get him while I keep him busy!"

It was surprising to see him on our side, especially after he had deserted the God-Generals when he had figured out Van's motives. I had a lot to ask both him and Sync, but I knew I'd have to wait with that until after we'd driven away Father. I knew we could not kill him, even if we tried. If maybe all the God-Generals were here, then we would stand a chance, but not just the three of us.

"_Bloody Howling!_ Now, Sync."

"Don't order me around- Oh fine! _Stone Dragon Ascent_!" he yelled and the three Artes combined to hit Father straight in the back. It looked like it was enough to make him retreat, thankfully, but not before he had threatened us again. He was not done, however, because just when he was about to leave our line of sight, he suddenly turned and threw a fireball about the same size as a small ship at us.

"Now, we'll take it out together!" Asch said and cast another _Icicle Rain_ on the ground. They evaporated quickly because there had not been any target in the area, but that was not the purpose of the spell.

"Sync, Asch, RUN!" I said and prepared to cast _Bloody Howling_. The fireball was approaching quickly, and I knew we only had seconds to avoid it. This plan better had to work, or we'd all be toast – as well as the whole Tataroo Valley.

"_Mighty Waterfall of the underworld, appear before me now! Maelstrom!"_ That instant, my spell merged with the remnant energy of Asch's spell, forming an entirely new one. The effect was terrific; the fireball was extinguished instantly and the new spell flew in Father's direction. In the distance, I could clearly make out the lamenting cries of a much wounded Liger King.

That moment, I knew the battle was won – at least for now. Our actions had gotten the monsters' respect, so it would surprise me very much should any ambush us now. I believed that now was as good a time as any to ask some questions.

Half an hour later, we were now all sitting at the campsite again. Despite the enemy having had the element of surprise at their side, neither of us had been any damaged by Father's assault. Asch had been silent ever since we beat the monster, and I could see he felt uncomfortable being around his old colleagues again. He finally broke the silence, though:

"So what happened, anyway? I saw smoke coming from Daath and then reports said they'd seen something – or rather some_one_, I'd say," he blinked to us, "fly at great speeds towards Tataroo Valley. So I come here, and what the hell do I see, but him," he pointed his finger accusingly at Sync, "lying there, looking like he's about to die. Honestly, you made me use my last Special Gel, you bastard!"

Sync snorted, "You didn't have to bother. Not like I'd wanted to be saved by a moron like you."

"Take that back!" Asch snapped.

"What? You didn't know? Hoenstly, Arietta's more intelligent than you. Need I remind you of that time when we went to Mt. Roneal and YOU managed to set off that freaking avalanche?"

Asch blushed, clearly embarrassed, "Shut up, dreck! Only because YOU just had to show off to Arietta by performing your damn Mystic Arte at a monster that was currently at the peak of the FREAKING MOUNTAIN!"

I sighed. Men would always be men, no matter what. "Guys, we have more important matters to do."

"Shut up!" both yelled at me. Where was Hresvelgr when I needed her the most?

"- And you tried to flirt with LEGRETTA! Shut up!"

"At least I do not dream about Largo every night!"

"Because whatever idiot organized the rooms put my room next to his!"

"So you ARE gay! Admit it!"

"I am not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not I say! Shut up or I'll kill you!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

"Fine! Stone d-"

"_SPLASH!"_ Before both knew it, they were both equally drenched. I really felt good to make them shut up for once.

"Listen! We won't survive a day like this! Asch, what happened is-"

"She made the rest of the God-Generals pissed," Sync shot in, and that was when I gave him _The Look_. The kind of look only I could pull off. I could see him shrink before me, or maybe he was just shivering from the cold?

"Go to sleep, Sync!" I ordered. After an entire life with monsters, commanding Sync was not as hard as I'd thought. Within fifteen minutes, the green-haired youth had already curled his body into a ball and was sleeping soundly.

Asch looked at me with a grateful face before he repeated his question. This time I told him our awkward story without any further interruptions and he listened very carefully, nodding to show that he was listening.

"I see, so you finally learned the truth," he said after I was done telling him.

I nodded, "indeed. It sure hurts – the people I loved and trusted, just betraying me like that."

"Yeah, and to make matters worse, you had to be stuck out here with _him_," Asch pointed to Sync, who currently was sleeping like a child next to me.

In his sleep, he looked much friendlier – not as brutal or evil-looking as he usually did. His facial features were peaceful and to my surprise, I actually thought he looked kind of pretty when he was asleep. Maybe I should learn myself a sleeping spell and use him as my practice target?

"He's not really that bad, I am sure," I said after a while of looking at him.

"You like him, don't you?" Asch joked, though I did not get it at the time.

"Shut up, Asch. I know you have been meeting Van at night before." I retorted.

Asch growled, but thankfully not loud enough to wake up Sync, "for the last time, Arietta! I AM NOT GAY! I am in love with Natalia and- SHIT!" he said when he realised he'd just spilled out his most valuable secret to a girl who just an hour ago had been his enemy.

"You did NOT hear that!" he snapped.

I smiled, "Oh, sure I didn't. So, you'll come with us? I am sure I could arrange to forget it then."  
I was not the kind of person to blackmail anyone, and I really felt guilty for it afterwards, but for now I knew we'd need Asch on our team in order to survive. I knew his skill with the sword was almost on the same level as Van's and should the rest of the God-Generals come after us, we'd at least be more able to defend ourselves with him on our side.

"Fine, whatever! I need to ensure that my sec- I mean, that you don't go and rejoin the God-Generals. Then there will be two less enemies to worry about." Asch said with a huge blush on his face.

"Thank you, Asch!"

He smirked, "Don't bother! I am NOT doing this for you!" with that we shook hands that for now we would be allies and I felt really relieved to have him on our side.

"Now, go to sleep. I have something I've got to do alone. I'll be back when you wake up," he said, took his sword and left. I wondered what he was up to, but honestly right now, I was too tired to even stand, so I copied Sync's position and fell asleep almost immediately, feeling more safe now than ever.

**Author's Notes:** All right! Asch has joined the group. And from now on, at least this fanfic will be a bit more fun with Asch's and Sync's constant bickering (poor Arietta).  
Imagine what will happen when Dist will appear... *shudder*

Anyway, now the actual story begins for real. These past chapters have been pretty rushed, because they've just been the prologue, really.


	5. Chapter 4: Reminiscence

Chapter 4: Reminiscence

"How long DO you intend to sleep?" Sync's voice cut me out of my dreams and I rose up, feeling like a wreck. I probably looked like one, too, because I'd slept on the ground. Thankfully, I quickly cast _Splash_ on myself, knowing that since it was summer, my clothes would dry as I wore them. I ignored Sync, knowing that for now, any conversation with him would probably just tick me off or give me many questions I could not find the answer to.

"What time is it?" I asked a rhetorical question. The sky was still dark, but I could see the sun's first rays shining through the veil of darkness that was currently engulfing the Valley. Asch still had not returned, though the monsters in the area claimed he had not gone very far.  
Sync shrugged, "Maybe he was eaten? I don't care."

I glared at him. Very hard, and then slapped him in the face. Unfortunately, he was quick so he avoided my blow, but he still got the message.

"Fine, fine, I'll scout the area. You just find him if he means that much to you!" with that we both left in our separate directions, both of us pouting. He went to the left, while I went to the right.

_How hard is it for that ungrateful douche to be a little nicer? Honestly, is it going to kill him to say something good for once?_ While these thoughts kept going on in my mind, I didn't realise where I was going. After fifteen minutes of walking, I stumbled over something long and red. There was a roar that I believed even Sync would hear and strong hands threw me over. In an instant, I was lying on the ground with a sword pointed at my face.

"Who's there? Come out or I'll kill you!" A very, very angry Asch roared. I could hear the monsters in the vicinity escape for their lives.

"Stop, Asch! It's me, Arietta!" I pleaded, my brown eyes bored into his emerald ones.

With the realisation of my identity, he quickly sheathed his sword. "What're you doing out here?" he asked, still angry at me.

"Looking for you while escaping thoughts of how to murder Sync," I replied coolly, "now, please... get off me!"

"For the last time, you idiot, I told you to _wait_ for me!" he was calming down. I wondered what he had been doing, to which he replied he was merely "enjoying the sights". I could smell the odor of monsters from him, and saw a campfire. He apparently noticed where I was looking and instantly started defending himself:

"The damn things attacked me all of a sudden! What was I supposed to do, give them flowers?" he said, his face glowing redder than usual. I told him not to worry about it and that we better head back, making him question who was the leader of us. Actually, I had wondered about that myself; since we were planning to travel as a group now, we would need someone to be the leader. I knew Asch wanted to, but honestly, I didn't completely hate the idea either. I eventually told him that we better find Sync to decide it.

Finding Sync was much harder than finding Asch. A lot! He seemed to enjoy annoying us, apparently. He was hiding on the top of a tree, and when we found him, he just jumped into another one. The guy was like a monkey – a very annoying monkey that always insulted you!

"Sync, come down! We're losing time!" I called after him, but he ignored me on purpose, probably his pitiful little way of getting back at me. I just looked at Asch and nodded.

"_Icicle Rain!_" he said and laughed as the spell knocked Sync out of the air, causing the youth to land hard on the ground with his face first. I ran over to him and offered him my hand to help him up, but he knocked it away, enraged.

"I don't need your help!" he yelled and spat at the ground, "I'll kill you, Asch! I swear, that's what's gonna happen!"  
I just gave him another one of my looks, causing him to shut up again.

"Hey, airhead, we need you to discuss something," Asch said, quickly avoiding Sync's punch. The two would have started fighting if not for the fact that they were still slightly traumatised from yesterday, when I'd drenched them with _splash_.

Sync sighed, "What do you want?"

"We need to decide who the leader of our group is. I volunteer." Asch said with a proud smile on his face, but neither I nor Sync were in favour of the idea. We both knew that it would only spawn conflict, and personally, I would prefer for us to lay low so that the remaining God-Generals wouldn't find us.

"If I had to choose, I'd vote for Arietta." Sync said coolly, it was so obvious he did not care...

"What? Since when were you in favour of democracy?" Asch joked and I realised that this was why it was better for me to be the leader. Otherwise, Sync would always disagree with Asch, and Asch would probably make us way too easy to find. I told them that, despite my worries they'd both hit me for that, but interestingly, they both agreed.

"I hate to admit it, but you're right," Sync admitted half-heartedly.

Asch just gave me a disappointed look and told me to lead the way.

"Thank you," I said and smiled at them both, "now. Our first destination should be Engeve, there we can buy the provisions needed for our journey."

"But we don't have any money!" Sync retorted.

"I do but I plan to use it for something else," the redhead replied, making us both curious.

"Does it have something to do with that princess?" Sync smirked.

"SHUT UP!"

"GUYS! I'm the leader here. Asch, if you want to, keep your money. We will find a way to get provisions." I assured them, though in truth, I had no idea about how we were to pull that off. To begin with, I didn't even know how to even get a job, and I did not want to become a thief.

"Anyway, the sun's rising. We have a pretty long trek ahead of us, so let's go already!" I said and went ahead, implying for the two boys to follow me.

The day was mostly eventless, I could hear Sync and Asch muttering insults to each other, but that was all. No monsters attacked us and the sun was shining in the sky; red, hot and deadly annoying. We often had to stop to drink water, because we all felt like we'd swallowed the entire Zao Desert.

During one of our breaks, I calculated that – if I was correct and everything kept going this smoothly, we'd reach Engeve within three days.

We walked in silence, and I found it the perfect opportunity to ponder about what my other friends were doing. I was most worried about Largo – Asch had not known anything about him, and when he'd spied on the headquarters, The Black Lion had been missing, but so had Van as well. My thought was that perhaps Largo had fled somewhere and Van had chased him, but another possibility was that both had been killed off in that explosion.

I had thought about Legretta as well. We had always been friends, and it was such a shock for me to see her turn into an enemy all of a sudden. Worst thing is: I knew if we were to encounter her on the road, she would most likely attack us, as were her orders from Van, probably.

I knew Dist was off in his own little world. He had often ignored orders and come late for the meetings, but the past months, he had been completely off to his own ends. He was always talking about Jade and "The Jade Gang" (which was what he called Luke's team) and was up late every night he was at headquarters, often working on new insane creations that very often either caught fire, exploded into his face, or just malfunctioned and attempted to commit homicide.

Actually, once all of those three happened at once, and that time Dist had been banished to Keterburg because his "magnificent creation" had exploded in the commandant's bathroom when said person was using it. The scene had been hilarious, Dist running away from a commandant who only wore underpants and was waving his sword around. What had been worse, though, was that once Dist got hold of his flying chair (another creation of his), he had soared away and in that instant, Van had run into the meeting room, where of course there had been an extremely important meeting that involved the king of Baticul.

"And t-this is commandant Van Grants," a very embarrassed Mohs had said. "Who usually is more, eh... properly equipped."  
The whole court of Baticul had laughed their behinds off and Van almost got fired for insulting Daath's image, though the real culprit was Dist, but nobody seemed to care. Van managed to get off the hook with only three months in prison, and when he was released, he could never stop talking about "murdering that scientist".

Of course, Dist quickly made the banishment into a vacation and took up an indefinite residence in the Keterburg hotel, often enjoying its spa. When I and Largo were sent to get him back, he didn't want to.

"No! I refuse to return! I like it here!" he had screamed and tried to literally bite Largo when the latter just took him in one of his gigantic arms and carried him away.

"Don't worry, uncle Dist," I had comforted him when we were on the ship, "I am sure the commandant will be glad to see you again!"

"N-no! He'll kill me and feed me to your Ligers!" a very infuriated Dist had protested.

I smiled an assuring smile, "Oh, he won't do that. Besides, they would never eat you."

Dist looked at me with grateful eyes, "Oh, so you'll defend me! I love you so much!"

"Oh there'll be no need for that, if they ate you, they'd surely get digestion problems." I smiled innocently.

Dist's face darkened, "DAMMIT! Mark my words, I am writing this in my revenge journal!" he had reached for his book, only to see that my Liger had eaten it. Dist had fainted after that, and when he came to his senses, he could not stop crying. Thus, the rest of the day, my job was to comfort a very emotionally shaken Dist, even making Largo come down and sing a lullaby to him.

I think after that, Dist lost his taste for music for the rest of his life.

I had been so involved in my reminiscences that I had failed to realise that the sun had gone down.  
"I think it's time for a rest," I said when I noticed the exhaustion in my companions' faces. They both sighed out of relief and we sat down and made a campfire. Holy Lorelei, my feet were sore! How long had we been walking while I was thinking?

That evening, something unexpected happened. As I was ready to put out the fire and go to sleep, Sync came over and sat down next to me. I wondered what was going on.

"I... I just wanted to thank you, you know, for saving me twice." He answered my thought, "I guess I have been quite... unfriendly to you."

I was wondering if I had been starting to go crazy or not, there honestly was no way _Sync_ would be apologising and thanking someone. "Don't mention it," I replied.

"I guess you deserve some answers. You asked me why I had the same face as that useless Fon Master-"

"Don't call him that!" I snapped.

"Okay, sheesh. Anyway, you wanted to know why we share the same face? I'll tell you! It's because..."  
he suddenly changed his tone, so that he even sounded like Ion, "He's my brother. We were separated at birth. While he became the Fon Master, I was thrown away like a piece of trash, forced to fend for myself. In the end, we're not that different are we, Arietta?"

I shook my head, "N-no, I guess not. So, what happened afterwards? How did Van find you?"  
He'd joined the six God-Generals before me, so I had never known why he joined or in what state he was when he did.

Sync sighed, "Who said he found me? I was always rejected, and thus had no friends – and I still don't have any! I don't need them – I'd told myself... but in truth, I only act like such a bastard because I am so lonely... Anyway, while I was around Daath, beating up some monsters, some Oracle Knights spotted me,"

"Hey you, hold it right there! They had said, and I thought I was done for, that they had mistaken me for some criminal, and tried to run, but they were just too fast. They caught up with me, and just as I was about to be ready to turn myself over to them, their captain came over to me and patted me on my shoulder,"

"You're a fine lad, he'd said to me. He had said I was strong and capable of unleashing my true potential for better causes than this. I was told that since I was the Fon Master's brother, I had the same powers as him, and that I should become a God-General. I had never been in the military before, but I had nowhere else to go, so I accepted the job. That's how I ended up in this mess," Sync finished his poignant tale with a sigh.

I was awestruck, but I carefully put an arm around Sync, "It's not true you don't have any friends, Sync. I... I pity you, and I can be your friend. Also, Asch-"

"Asch? Don't make me laugh. I am sure he would kill me at the slightest chance he got; you're the only person who's ever been kind to me, Arietta," Sync replied and actually pulled me closer to him, "Thank you," he whispered in my ear.

"I-it's nothing," I replied, then I said I was tired and that I wanted to go to sleep early. Sync nodded.

"Sleep well," he said.

That night, I was plagued by nightmares: my own confused feelings were flying scrambled around in my head. Sync was the brother of the boy I'd loved, and now that I knew, I felt so extremely happy to be with him. He'd seemed to finally come to trust me and told me his deepest secret. To be honest, I could not explain this strange feeling that finally lulled me to sleep that evening; it was as if the world had been purged of all sadness and worry and I felt so lighthearted and happy when Sync had pulled me closer. I could not explain any of the events tonight, but I finally fell asleep hoping to find some answers tomorrow.

_Goodnight, Sync..._ I thought as the dream world replaced all conscious thought in my confused mind.

**Author's notes:** I know that Sync is really Ion's replica – I've played the game at least 20 times.  
He just lied to Arietta for reasons that I won't tell because it's a spoiler.  
All I can say is: poor Arietta (TT^TT)


	6. Chapter 5: The return of The Silver Wolf

Chapter 5: Return of the Silver Wolf

When I woke up, the sun had not yet risen. I looked around and saw Asch and Sync, both sleeping soundly on the ground next to me. Now that I knew the truth, Sync looked so much more like Ion that I had to make an effort to remind myself he was Sync. Even then, it was hard for me to believe, and the nagging feeling had not left me.

_Go back to sleep, Arietta,_ I told myself mentally, and tried to lie down and close my eyes, but no matter how I tried or not, nothing seemed to work. I almost never had any problems falling asleep since my body was weak and I easily got tired, but when I did, it was impossible for me to fall asleep again. Asch muttered something in his sleep about Luke and Natalia, making me wonder about what would happen when we'd one day run into them once more: would we be enemies and once again fight each other, or would we be able to put the past behind us, seeing as we now had the same enemy, but still not the same purpose?

I had not yet opened the letter from Anise because I wanted to read it in private. The plan was to check it out once we reached Engeve, then I'd decide what to do with my life afterward. I just hoped Anise would not ask me to duel her again, because I was still unsure about our relationship. True, she did kill Ion, but she also saved my life when she easily could have killed me without anyone interfering.

Just then, I felt a familiar presence and left our campsite to inspect it. We'd decided to camp in a small forest approximately half a day's walk from Engeve, which lied directly across an open field. With help from the moon's illumination, I found my way out on that field quite easily. My heart almost stopped when I saw:

"Legretta!" I screamed, instantly regretting I'd done so. She had tried to **kill** me, and here I was, in plain sight and unprepared for combat, and yelling her name to call her over. I was such an idiot!

The female God-General turned in my direction, her guns at the ready, but when she saw me, she instantly dropped them. "What're you doing here, Arietta?"

"I should be the one asking you!" I said, carefully walking over to her, but with my monster doll pressed firmly to my chest in case I would need to fight her. She looked uncomfortable, as if wanting to get away from me, but hesitantly moved in my direction. She put her hand over her mouth and shushed.

"Listen, you know how many risks I took to come talk to you?" she whispered low enough that only I could hear her, "Van has been keeping tabs on me ever since I let you escape. I snuck out only because I lied to him I was chasing Luke, whom I had claimed to be in Engeve."

I felt so relieved at seeing her alive and well, I almost started crying, but she looked at me sternly,  
"I do not have much time to talk to you, but still..."

"How are things back in Daath?" I asked urgently, fearing the worst.

"The six God-Generals have been reduced to only myself, and Van is busier now than ever. He has captured Lorelei inside him, but the amount of stress he's experiencing is causing him trouble in controlling him," Legretta said in her usual monotone voice.

"What happened to Largo? Please, don't tell me he's..." I could not finish my sentence, the thought was so scary I felt like I'd break down just thinking it.

Legretta smiled, or did something that looked like a smile, not an aggressive expression anyway, then it faded almost as instantly as it appeared. The woman said softly:

"He is missing in action. After he aided you escape, he was severely hurt by Van and was accused of treason against the Order of Lorelei. He was put to trial but last night, when the guards came to check on him, his cell was empty. Nobody knows where he is now."

At least he was alive, and that was a relief. "Why are you here?" I asked, since I did not really know her intentions yet.

"I came to give you your last mission, Arietta. I want you to seek out Dist and Largo and stop Van and myself. I... I don't want you to die."

"Then come with us!" I said, raising my voice.

Legretta shushed me, "I wish I could, it's just... I am too loyal to Van... And I detest the Score! I want to make a change to the whole world, even if I have to take extreme measures."

I frowned, "Please... Why must we be enemies...?"

"Ever since you were born, you've always relied on others for help, but you don't realize that true strength is born from the heart. Grow strong, Arietta, and one day – one day..."

"What? I'll be forced to kill you?" I sobbed, my voice breaking. Why could she not understand that we could make that change she craved for so much together? If all the God-Generals came together, we could even defeat Van himself!

"I don't want you to become my enemy, either, but there is no other way. Until the day you're strong enough, I'll keep track of you, but not harm you. If Van orders me to kill you, I'll lose on purpose, but know that Van is the man I love. Would you ever fight Ion?" Legretta said, looking away from me. I could hear in her voice the immense grief she felt, the conflict between what she should do, and what she wants to do.

I shook my head. I knew Legretta had won, because in that instant, she turned to me and stroke my forehead.

"You've grown so much, Arietta. I pray that one day, you will find your own truth about the world. When that day comes – if I still live – then I shall support your decision, even if it opposes my own."

We stood in silence after that, simply looking into each other's eyes. I thought about her words, and she probably thought about mine. She was right: I had to get stronger. I could not afford to be weak anymore – I had to become as strong and resolved as Legretta, otherwise I would never stop Van. I did not want him to destroy Auldrant, despite all the misery there was on it, it was still home to many millions, and no matter how indebted I was to Van or not, I simply could not allow all those innocent people to die because of Van's actions – because of events I had helped set out into action. For all the tragedies I'd caused, I would not stop, even if it meant I'd have to change my life completely.

I told Legretta my thoughts and to my surprise, she smiled. Not in a way she smiles when we complete a mission, but this one was a completely sisterly smile, and I realized how tightly the God-Generals actually were tied in life.

"I have lingered too long," she said casually after another short while, "Your resolve is good. It is a nice start, but can you really change drastically enough to fulfill your plan?"

"I'll try. I have Asch and... and Sync."

"Sounds well. In that case, how about we move on to the request I have for you?" Legretta asked.

I told her that I am all ears and waited, my eagerness mixed with suspense and anxiety.

"Your mission is to find Dist. Partly because you'll need his," she had trouble saying the words, "intellect in order to succeed. But if you tell him I called him smart..." she pointed at her guns to make sure I got the message before continuing, "He was last seen at Kaitzur Port, though I don't expect him to linger there for long."

She took her guns, "That is all I can do for you. Now, farewell, my friend."  
Just then, she cast a Fonic Arte and a yellow mist enveloped me, blotting out my surroundings.

"Hey, bubblegum, wake up!" Sync's voice tore through my head like a blade and my eyes shot open. When I got up, I was back at the camping site... then, had all that conversation with Legretta been but a dream?

_Okay, next time you wake up before the others to do something important and assure yourself afterwards you're not dreaming, do something like... draw a mustache on Sync._

I giggled at the thought of Sync with a drawn, black mustache. Unfortunately my laughter caused the boys to look at me as if I was going crazy, though Asch seemed to understand what I had in mind.

"What're you staring at me like that for?" Sync got nervous when he noticed both of us stared on him intently, "L-let's just go!"

"That's Arietta's job to decide." Asch smirked, suppressing a laugh. Sometimes I wondered if he could read my mind or something.

"Engeve is just across that field, half a day's walk from here." I said. A sound that seemed like a monster growling resounded from my stomach.

"But maybe we better eat first," I blushed and now it was their turn to laugh, though they were about as hungry as me. It was understandable, since we had barely eaten anything before we went to sleep yesterday.

"Sure, just wait, I'll go cook us up something." Sync said, and I was instantly reminded of the last time he had "cooked" something. I still had traumas!

Let me tell you what happened that time:

It had been when we had been out on a picnic around Daath, two years before today. The sun had been shining brilliantly, and the summer day was as hot as if we'd been in the Zao Desert. Van had decided that we needed a break from our daily duties, and so we all travelled down to the plains and after I'd negotiated with the monsters there, we all sat down and enjoyed life.

After a while, Van said it was time for us to eat. All were in favour of that, with the exception of Dist, who still had phobias of Van attempting to strangle him, drown him or poison him after the embarrassment he had given the poor commandant in the previous chapter's flashback. "No! I refuse to eat anything with him around!" he told me when I asked the nature of his protest.  
Somehow, Ion managed to convince him that Van had no malicious intentions, but then came the problem of finding out who was to cook.

"I volunteer," a boyish voice said among us, and all turned to see Sync, the newest member.

"Why not? Ha ha ha!" Largo said, "Go on, boy."

Within half an hour, Sync had cooked up something purple and gooey that smelled like a monster had used it as its personal bathroom for a long time.

"What the _hell_ IS this?" a very pissed off Legretta had asked.

"It's my secret. Try it, that's how I keep myself so healthy." Sync answered casually and even tried to smile, though it looked more like a homicidal grimace.

"Let's not ruin a bad picnic, Legretta!" Van said and took a spoonful of the... result.  
In an instant, his face became red, then yellow, then purple and in the end he looked like his face had become a rainbow. Then he fell over on his back and started shuddering like he was ill. Legretta tried to comfort him, asking him what was wrong, but when he opened his mouth, all that came out was a deadly stench.

Legretta fainted.

Following that, Van took his sword and started using it as a shovel, singing a song about goblins as he did it. "Hee hee hee! T-ttthisss... isshhh... goooood!" he sang and used an Imperial Slaughter on the ground, causing dirt to fly in all directions and hit us all. Largo got a big boulder on his head and threw a fit of rage and hit Van with his Mystic Arte. Just at that time, Legretta woke up and saw the man she loved being damaged, she cast a Holy Lance, but her eyes were still foggy and it almost hit me – it would have had if I hadn't rolled away. Instead, Dist was the poor target for her rage, "YOU taught him that, you sick bastard!" she yelled and ran after him, firing her bullets like a madwoman.

In the end, all that remained were myself and Ion. "Shall we go and spend our day off somewhere else?" I asked.  
Apparently, Ion had nothing against it.

And that was why I would _never_ let Sync cook again in my life. Asch was no better, one time, he had almost killed Mohs when the latter was sick and Asch was appointed to prepare the food for him. Asch was very satisfied when he saw Mohs writhing in pain and wetting himself.

"I-I'll cook." I said, my eyes twitching. I still did not know if Asch had done that on purpose or not, and I was not willing to take the chance.

The other God-Generals were rather fond of my cooking, and this time was no different. With some help with the hunting from Sync, I managed to cook up a rather decent meal in less than twenty minutes. Of course, I would never have done it so fast if Asch hadn't contributed with his _Explosion_ spell to make a fire.

With that problem out of the way, we reached Engeve quickly. I kept my eyes on Sync almost the whole time, seeking further resemblance between him and Ion.

"What're you staring at?" he asked me after some time.

I decided I wanted to tell him, "I am sorry. I just wanted to know more about Ion and you. If you are his brother, why do you hate him so much?"

"Because he's the reason of my misery!" Sync pouted, "If that bastard had never been born, I wouldn't be here with you now!"

I looked away, and in an instant, Sync changed his tone. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that, I-"

"Well, too bad, because you just hurt me! Idiot!" I said. He had not really hurt me, but I had to show him that his behaviour was wrong. He could not continue being so evil to everyone, especially his friends.

"Wait!"

"Leave me alone!" I told him and walked half a metre away from him.  
Behind me, I could hear Asch telling Sync that he played a tough game, and I wondered what game they were talking about. As far as I knew, Sync didn't even like games.

For some reason, the walk to Engeve seemed longer than our trek yesterday, probably because this time, I did not think about my past. We reached the town faster than I'd anticipated; we'd started out at noon and had reached our destination after one hour and a half.

Engeve was a really pretty town. It was not exactly big, but it certainly had its charm – I saw a lot of shopkeepers and most of the population was farmers. The town had such a nice atmosphere that I felt peaceful by just being here.

"It's so pretty here!" I exclaimed.

"Really, I think this place is dull. I wanna leave now." Sync sounded really bored, but shrunk immediately when I looked at him. "I'll shut up now, I promise!" he pleaded.

After a while, I suggested we split up for a while and rendezvous at the inn. Both were in favour of that; Asch had said he needed to contact "the replica", by whom he meant Luke, and Sync just hurried off somewhere before I could speak to him.

"I think he likes you," Asch had mocked me before leaving me alone.

I had never really been in much of a town or a city before – sure, I had of course been in Daath, but that city was so controlled by the Score, I could never really enjoy any free time there. It is needless to explain the immense liberty I felt when I realised I could just walk around freely in a town, without the rest of the God-Generals patronising me.

The sun was shining brightly and the townspeople were in a good mood. I quickly took notice of the inn, which was a two-story wooden house with a sign at the door that informed everyone who passed by that this was the best (and only) inn you could find in Engeve. It was located just near the southern entrance to town.

I really understood why people called Engeve for The Grocer's Hamlet. Its fruits and vegetables were shipped all throughout Auldrant, and they sure had a lot to boast with. I thought about maybe settling down in this town and live in peace, but then I would not fulfill my promise to Legretta. Suddenly, an idea sprang up in my head! If Dist had been here, he would surely have stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Um, excuse me," I asked a young man that was selling apples on the road just across the inn, "have you seen a man that looks like a scientist, a little taller than myself and with big, dusty glasses and silver hair?"

Unfortunately, nobody had seen him. "But, if you're looking for someone, then maybe you should ask Rose, our mayor. She lives just there," he pointed at one of the larger houses that had a red roof. It was a little broader than the rest, but still rather small. I thanked the man as polite as I could (I was still struggling with that), and headed for the mayor's house.

"Outta the way, little girl!" a rough voice said and before I knew it, someone slammed into me, knocking me over. It took a while for me to recover, but when I did, this tall woman was towering over me. She looked about the same age as Largo and certainly wasn't thin.

"Are you all right?" she checked my forehead, "You're not wounded?"

"N-no... but what happened?" I asked, my head was spinning from the hit.

The woman frowned, "Recently, we've had our food stolen by bandits and monsters that work together somehow. What slammed into you must have been of their monsters. We managed to stop him near the western border, but he certainly is a wild being."

"Monsters and humans don't usually work together..." I said, "Is it a problem for you?"

"Of course, and as the mayor of Engeve, I must find a way to stop them, otherwise Engeve will panic."

So she was Rose. A sudden idea hit me, "Would you want me to get rid of the monsters?"

"Yes, but... It's far too dangerous for you. You don't look like one who would survive against such a strong beast." Rose said with a concerned voice. She obviously had no idea what I'd been through.

"True, I may not be up to the task," I lied, "but I still want to do it. That way, at least Engeve will be safeguarded from monsters. In return, please don't kill them anymore."

Rose raised an eyebrow, "You're a strange kid, you know that? Normally, I'd expect you to want to kill them. I don't know what you are planning, but I am sure it is more than I can do."

Thus, we agreed to let me negotiate with the monsters. Rose fetched me my monster doll and I ran outside and turned westwards. I half-ran, fearing that Asch or Sync may have seen the beast and tried to kill it.

Perhaps half the population of Engeve was crowded at the western plaza, all their eyes staring intently at the scene as some Malkuth soldiers tried to stop the enormous wolf that they had cornered, he snarled and lunged at one of them, knocking him out but two more soldiers came at him, grabbing his silver fur and readying their swords to attack. Only then, I realised who this idiot was!

"Fenrir?" I yelled, causing the whole crowd to turn their eyes on me, and not in a good way.

"Sheathe your blades, this monster won't harm you!" I told the military as I pushed my way through the crowd to the bewildered animal.

"The hell? He's already destroyed half our crops and taken out half a dozen soldiers!" a very angry man said from the crowd, his gaze was filled with hatred that I knew he had no problems with taking out on me. "You expect us to **just let him go** after that?"

"Please, he is but a stupid being that does not have a will, have mercy on him!" I pleaded. I needed Fenrir alive, he could be a valuable ally for finding Dist.

"So she's also with those bandits!" a boy said.

"To think that someone so young could be so twisted," another person muttered.

I rushed over to Fenrir and healed his wounds. They were not that big, his body was strong and muscular, so he could take a lot of damage before the situation got dangerous for his life, but I just wanted to be sure.

"Please, listen to me. I am not a bandit, but I can speak to monsters. Let me please tell you that this animal does not mean any harm." I said, ready to defend him if needed.

"Fine, tell them they're a bunch of idiotic vermin who attack others for no good reason!" Fenrir snarled.

"He says that he is sorry for the trouble he's caused you," I translated.

"Are you deaf?" Fenrir whined, "I said nothing of the sort!"

"And he especially apologises to the soldiers!"

"Their morale is a bunch of Behemoth crap!"

"He says he will change his ways and help you find the bandits."

I was surprised at how stupid Fenrir was; did he not realise I was trying to save his miserable life here?

Thankfully, the crowd did not understand monster language, so they finally started to believe me.

The angry man sighed, "If you're telling me you're stopping the bandits, then fine! But if you trick us, then both of you shall pay dearly!" he made a cutting throat motion, "Now, I am going back to the inn! My customers are waiting!"

"I need to tend to the remaining crops," an old woman said.

"I am heading back to my school," a small girl piped up, and eventually the crowd dissolved, leaving me alone with Fenrir.

I was angry beyond words at the stupid monster. "Are you a complete imbecile?" I yelled at him, "Thank Yulia they cannot understand you, or else we'd both be dead now!"

So, now thanks to Fenrir, we now had to take care of some bandits. In that time, Dist would be able to escape to heaven knows where. Thank you so much, Fenrir!

The commotion had attracted Sync and Asch and when I explained to them the situation Fenrir had got us into, they were both equally pissed off.

"Is that thing really worth it?" Sync asked me as we headed to Rose, leading to Fenrir getting very ticked off and say a lot of words that cannot be retold.

Unfortunately, we had to do it, otherwise Engeve would keep suffering from those bandits, and when we got to Rose's house, she explained us the situation clearly: some bandits had crossed the Fubras River and set up a stronghold in the Cheagle Woods. There were approximately forty of them in number, and they often came down to Engeve to ravage their goods. Sometimes they kidnapped the younger townspeople, especially the younger girls, for their own, twisted motives.

"I'll help you exterminate them!" I said when she was finished, my voice filled with hatred.

I didn't even know them, but I already despised those bandits! Not only did they use Mother's home as their base, but they also kidnapped children and held them hostage... or even worse!

Surprisingly, my companions were about as angry with the outlaws as myself, so we decided to head out tonight and finish them off while we had the element of surprise on our side.

"Those guys... I can tell you this, I have a hyperresonance with their names written on it!" Asch told me as we headed out.

**Author's Notes:** Oooh! I can't wait to kill those bandits! In the next chapter, we'll finally learn what Anise's letter contains.

I want those who review to write what they think she'll say in it, just for fun. I also have to say, writing Arietta is much easier than I thought. Until next time!


	7. Chapter 6: The Cheagle Woods

**Chapter 6: The Cheagle Woods**

In the last rays of the evening sun, I could spot our targets: the bandits had made a large encampment in the central area of the woods. The same place where mommy had died and where my journey had begun. If only I still had Hresvelgr, I would be able to destroy them in a matter of minutes, but unfortunately, I was unsure of whether my poor old friend still lived or not and had to take the matters into the trust of myself and my friends.

"You took your time, not that I care, though," Sync said when I returned to the entrance of the forest to tell them of what I'd seen.

"How great were their numbers?" Asch inquired, and my observations had been bleak: their ranks were closer to having a hundred people and what's worse, I'd overheard one of them say that should Engeve make opposition, they'd kill both the children and Cheagles alike.

"Damn them to hell!" Asch replied and swung his sword in midair. I'd personally never seen him lose his temper like that unless someone said something about Luke.

Even Sync couldn't keep his air of carelessness this time, "Some bandits these are. Soon the idiots will learn of the true wrath of a God-General."

His reaction startled me; I'd never seen him get angry for someone else's sake. Was he actually not as bad as he let on? He stared at me with angry eyes, "Well, great leader, what's the plan?"

"Kill them and eat them, like they did with my siblings!" Fenrir said. I'd completely tried to ignore him – not only was he annoying, but he acted like a spoiled little cub! He really got on my nerves.

"Don't worry, we will try, Fenrir." I assured him, though I doubted my abilities against such a large group: It was unlikely I would survive long if they all targeted me, and I knew that even if Asch, Sync, Fenrir and I fought the best we could, we would never defeat a hundred people without at least one of us getting seriously hurt in the process. We might have been well trained Oracle Knights, but we were still humans, and could die just as easily.

I knew this was a difficult situation and as the leader, I could not afford to be weak.

"We'll wait for them to fall asleep, then we'll ambush them with the element of surprise on our side. You two," I turned to Sync and Asch, "make some traps to catch those who try to escape, you – just hide, you're enough of a nuisance already," I scolded Fenrir because he tried to protest with my plan. I needed Asch and Sync to do as I told them to, because I'd thought out a plan to achieve victory, but it depended on them.

All three nodded once I told them my strategy. "Wait, what the heck are you gonna do?" Sync spat, "Don't tell me you're just going to goof-off while we do the work?"

I shook my head and gave him a mischievous smile, "Oh no, Sync, you need not fear that," I replied in my most formal tone, nearly giving the green haired God-General a heart attack and left him in Asch's care while I played my part of the plan.

While Rose had suggested we take some guards with us, I'd instantly shrugged her offer away, but that did not mean we'd fight them four-on-a hundred.

"What's it with girls and taking up all the time in the world?" a very annoyed Sync asked me with crossed arms, "I think my leg fell asleep twice while I waited for you!"

I smiled again, "Sorry, it's a lady's secret. Anyway, are we ready with the traps?"

Asch nodded while Sync kept protesting that I'm too young to be considered a lady, but I just ignored him and let him finish his own little rant by himself.

I knew the forest by heart and we hid in one of the trees that had a good view of the enemy camp.  
Indeed, as I thought, there were some archers among the criminals, and I knew we'd have to kill them first. _"Oh hellion's roar, Bloody Howling..."_ I whispered, praying that the spell would be strong enough to take them out. Though it did not kill them, it knocked them unconscious without a single sound being heard.

We jumped down to be greeted by Fenrir, who had been deployed as a decoy unit to draw the archers' attacks. Silver Wolves were born with naturally high resilience and sturdy bodies and could survive repeated blows from enemy weapons, so I was not really worried, though I did not want him to die either. When I asked him if he was all right, he simply was surprised to see me there. The poor idiot had lost his way in his own forest!

"M-mercy! Please don't kill me!" the remainder of the bandits that had hid in my mother's cave pleaded after five minutes of Sync going berserk on them, he was really enjoying himself, but I told him to leave them be. That was the biggest mistake I'd ever done, as they'd hoped for that and in an instant, we were surrounded by enemies.

"Great job, Arietta!" Asch cursed under his breath as he drew his sword once more as we heard a lot of footsteps marching toward us. To give you an overview of the situation:

The enemies were superior in numbers to us – true, we'd killed around forty of them, but they were all decoy units and the real forces were now attacking, and now that they had seen us fight, they knew what to expect from us. They all were equipped better than those we'd killed – many of them used axes or hammers, weapons for torturing their targets before they killed them.

"You're dead!" One of them screamed and lunged at me, but then Fenrir bit him in the... eh, I think you understand. Either way, he yelled out in pain and staggered back just in time to be hit by my _Spark Wave_ spell, with some help from Asch's _Thunder Blade_. Sync dashed to their leader and placed a Curse Slot on him, "Now the fun begins," he said as he clenched his fists and a purple mark appeared on both his palms and the bandit's forehead.

"W-what the hell is that?" One of his subordinates cried out in bewilderment.

"Aah!" I yelled as one of them took me and pinned me down.

"Whatever you did to him, undo it, or we'll kill the girl," a female voice said as she struggled to keep me down. I lifted my head to see the ugliest woman I'd ever laid eyes upon; her voice was young, but her face was scarred and she had stains of blood over her face. She smiled crazily as she drew a beautiful obsidian dagger with strange symbols written on it. In an instant, I felt some spiritual connection to that weapon; I wanted it. "Now, girl, you have a pretty face, but will it be as pretty when I'm through with you?" she said as she pressed it to my cheek and started muttering something.

Sync staggered, "W-wait... What are you doing?" he asked when he saw what she was trying and flew at her, but she took notice.

"_Oh gale of the nocturnal wind, chill my enemy down – Blizzard!_" she chanted and summoned a snowstorm that blew him away and right into the wall, but he was too fast to hit it, as he recovered just before the impact and lunged off at my oppressor.

"You have some nerve picking fights with me, kid, but you'll thankfully not live to regret it. I will kill you all now!" she said. For a moment I felt gutsy because I knew we had pushed them to their limits. That feeling momentarily faded and was replaced by pain as she pressed her dagger even further into my cheek and I felt something hot drip down my face, reminding me of the imminent danger I was in and that Death was but minutes away from all of us lest I did something.

Just then, I felt as if some hidden knowledge inside me resurfaced; "Sync, take cover now!" I yelled, "_Wrap them in a silver embrace!_"

"It could not be...!" the bandit said in bewilderment as she realised what spell I was casting, something I myself had no idea of.

"_ABSOLUTE!"_ I said and the next thing I knew, the enemy was dead – or more like frozen into the ground, her expression locked in one last, manic yell and her hand clenching her weapon.

"Thank you for the weapon," I said as I took the dagger out of her hand. Just as I thought, her weapon had been unaffected by my spell, something about this dagger was special.

"O-our supreme leader is dead!" the remaining enemies screamed and attacked us at once, but many of them instantly fell prey to Asch's sword.

"You wanna start something? I'll kill you stupid bastards! _Guardian Frost!_" he said and slammed his sword into the ground, drawing a circle around himself, which then called forth countless icicles, that pierced the enemies bodies and killed them instantly.

Sync was playing with them – confusing them and making them kill each other by directing their blows on him before jumping away just in time for the bandits to hit their neighbors. He cast a few _Turbulence_ spells when they'd surrounded him, and in total he destroyed them.

Just then, I could hear that even more enemies were approaching. Then, I knew that was the decisive point of no return of this entire plan. I opened my mouth and whistled in a loud, clear tone and readied myself to run. Mere seconds later, together with Sync and Asch – as well as Fenrir – we were running out of the cave, and we were not a moment too late, because just then, all the monsters living in the forest ran into the cave.

Once we were outside, we collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily as we heard the monsters going on a rampage. I stood up first, "Is everyone all right?"

"Ha ha! That was such a blast!" Sync laughed as he jumped up.

"Indeed, they deserved it for what they did." Asch replied and leaned on his sword to get up.

"Hello? What about me?" Fenrir asked, slightly annoyed at our ignorance.

"Still, I feel bad for doing that to them, they did not deserve such a humiliating end." I said, as the roars and growls deafened, I knew that the monsters had done their job well.

I knew that now we had to rescue the children and the Cheagles before it was too late. The bandits had surely already been alerted by the commotion in the cave and the rampage of the monsters, and if we did not hurry, they would kill their hostages and our rescue operation would fail.

"Are you okay, Arietta?" Sync asked me while we ran towards the Great Tree where the Cheagles lived.

I stopped, "What do you mean? Are you?"

He nodded, "I mean with that cut. You're bleeding, dammit!" he looked concerned.

I pressed my hand to my cheek and mustered a smile, "I am fine. It's just a bruise that'll heal on its own."

"I just don't wanna be dragged down by your mistakes!" he said angrily.

"And I by yours," I snapped. He was really getting on my nerves now. "If you're worried about me, then show it; if not, then leave me alone!"

Sync crossed his arms but quickly realised what he had said and simply ran ahead, saying he would just scout ahead of us.

"I think he likes you," Asch mocked. "Sync has never been a good actor."

"Don't be stupid, Asch! He may look like Ion, but he is not him – he'll never be!" I replied coolly, not hiding the anger in my voice. I had misjudged Sync's hearing abilities, because just then, I saw him quickly turn away from me.

"I don't wanna be anything close to him either! And to your information, I don't want you to fall in love with me either. Besides, I'd never date a girl as depressing as you!" he spat and darted off into the distance.

"What the hell is he doing? At this rate, he'll run right into an ambush!" Asch yelled and hurried after him.

_I will never feel anything for that idiot!_ I thought and followed them.

"Slow down, will ya?" Fenrir panted, "I don't have the best stamina in Auldrant!"

"Keep up or keep out!" I said behind my back, preferring to avoid any further frustration from anyone else.

We found Sync in the middle of a bloodbath; he had single-handedly destroyed the bandits' camp and killed their men. "Wish to taste some real power?" he taunted the remaining foes, "_Akashic Torment!_" he punched his fist into the ground and caused a shockwave, from which light erupted and engulfed the enemies before reducing them to ashes.

"There, job done and over with!" he smirked and ran inside the tree, "I'm leaving you behind if you don't follow!"

Darn it! Why was he so powerful? He was younger than me and had more disadvantages in battle with his temper issues, and yet he was much more useful than I. When he fought for real, no enemy could even stand the inkling of a chance against him.

... or so I thought. In that moment, one of the bandits rose up. Sync had failed to finish him and left him there for dead while he killed the rest of the enemies, and now the bandit charged at Sync, his sword was lowered so that it was like a line.

"No! Watch out!" Asch yelled after Sync, but both of us knew it was in vain.

"Die!" the bandit yelled and swung his sword. The blade slashed in a wide arc and cut Sync in the back. The youth grunted and fell to his knee, muttering curses while he lost a lot of blood.

"You'll make a fine trophy, boy!" the bandit raised his sword for the kill, and I knew that all hope was lost. I knew Sync would not survive that attack, and my mind went blank at that scene. Without thinking, I took up the dagger I'd snatched from the leader and threw it.

"Augh!" a yell of pain reached my ears and the next thing I knew was Asch shaking me.

"Come to your senses, you worthless girl! Are you stupid?" I opened my eyes and found myself face to face with the redhead. His angry emerald eyes bored into mine.

My whole body was shaking, despite the high temperature in the air. I looked around me and saw half a dozen of children and teenagers, some about my age and some as young as six years old. I also saw hundreds of Cheagles; their small bodies making a most colourful show on the ground.  
The bodies of the bandits were nowhere to be seen and my hand was clutching the dagger that I'd thrown. Asch and Fenrir were present, but where was Sync? A most horrendous image spouted in my mind.

"Where's Sync?" My voice broke in panic.

Asch sighed, "He's inside the tree. Damn... first he gets cut up and then you faint just after we defeat the enemy. This is why I have been going solo these past months!" he said, though his voice showed that he was relieved it was over.

His grip on my shoulders loosened and I felt lighter. "I'll be back soon!" I told the cheering crowd of children and Cheagles and ran inside the tree.

Despite having spent so much time in this forest since mommy moved here, I'd never once been inside the Cheagles sacred tree. The inside was much brighter than I'd thought, miniature torches illuminating the trunk and blocks of leaves being spread around the room gave it a homely feel. I could understand why the Cheagles lived here.

Sync was sitting on one of the "beds" with a bandage around his stomach. He looked uncomfortable when he saw me and for a moment I was sure he'd wanted to hide behind a monster doll like I often did when I felt out of place. He desperately tried to avoid my look but had to give up when I approached him.

"Do you mind?" I asked without looking at him and pointed at where he sat.

"Go on." His voice was shaky and I noticed that it lacked the hatred it usually held. Now those sentiments were replaced by anxiety and shame.

For a while we sat in silence, both of us trying to start a conversation, only to stutter and return to silence. _Where's Asch when I actually need him?_ He was waiting outside and sent us looks and nods, his way to "help" us along. I really hated him now; he was merely making this even more awkward.

I looked at Sync; I had thought that the bandage only was around his stomach, but I'd been very wrong: It spread across almost his entire back, which was now exposed for the wounds to mend faster. I noticed that he'd gotten a gash in his left cheek, so I quickly raised my hand and slapped him on the right one, which as of yet had been unharmed.

"You idiot, why do you always rush ahead," I scolded, "Do you think of noone but yourself?"

"I... I'm sorry," he said, trying to avoid my face. "I'm really sorry. I don't know what happened..."

"You almost got yourself killed! That's what happened!" I continued, "All because you refused to listen to me and rushed on ahead! If you think you can handle yourself that well alone, go on! Leave!"

"Just shut up! I did it so that you would not have to put yourself in danger!" he countered angrily and tried to stand up, but ended up falling down again due to the pain.

"I can handle myself pretty fine, thank you!" I retorted, "Something that can't be said about you, I'm afraid!"

He looked down and did not answer me, "I am truly sorry. I..."

"I don't want to see Ion die again." I interrupted him, "even if you are his brother – and have the worst personality of any living being I've encountered in my whole life, I still would be sad to see you die."

"Why do you care? I –"

"Was born a piece of meat," I interrupted again, this time imitating his tone of voice, "stop saying that! You are yourself, Sync, and no matter how poorly you have been treated in the past, you are still worthy of life."

"You really think so, huh? Well, what if nobody were to accept me?" Sync asked, his voice sad. I realised that beyond his facade, he was just a misunderstood teenager.

"I still would. So stop saying those things about yourself! I know people can change, so both of us can fix our mistakes. Just give the world a chance!" I pleaded. If Sync were to change, then so could I. We could start all over again.

"I can see why Ion liked you so much..." Sync mused.

"Excuse me?" I raised an eyebrow, "I know he always preferred Anise to me, and only looked at me as a pet, but it was fine with me, because he was my friend and accepted me as who I was, no matter how terrible I might have been, he still was kind to me."

Sync closed his eyes, "Arietta... I will change. So that one day, I can finally understand your words."

I smiled, "This is not a matter of understanding, Sync, but of acceptance. You don't accept yourself because you feel nobody has ever cared about you. Think about it: if I had not cared, would I have saved you at the Tataroo Valley? Would I speak to you now?"

"Arietta," Sync grabbed my shoulder as I rose up to leave, "Thank you. I promise to try to accept."

His face was sincere, he wanted to change. I felt warm all of a sudden, and my frown turned into a kind expression. "And I will try to change as well, so that you or Asch or the others won't be hurt anymore," I promised.

I helped Sync up and felt a spark of electricity run through my body when he leaned on my shoulder for support. In that state, we walked out to meet Asch and as we did, I felt stronger than I'd ever been before.

The sun had just risen when we came outside and the first golden rays of dawn fell bright upon my face.

"Thank you!" all the voices of those we'd saved echoed across the forest clearing and for the first time, I got a clear view of them: Many of the children were critically underfed and some were so thin they looked like they could break apart at any moment. The worst cases were the ones who had been hurt by the bandits and were in need of healing.

I left Sync in Asch's care and started healing the wounded. The redhead quickly applied some apple gels he'd looted from the enemies' bodies and by the time the sun was truly up, Sync was fully healed and the two were arguing about mindless matters again.

Fenrir finally became useful in the sense that there was one boy who had been hurt in the leg and was too tired to walk, so the silver wolf allowed him to ride on his back. I flashed Fenrir an approving look while I kept on healing the children. Their wounds were nowhere as serious as Sync's and it took me some minutes to heal each one of them.

"Thank you, miss," one of the children, a girl of around eleven, said to me when I was done with the spells, "you really saved us. I wish to become like you someday."

"O-oh," I blushed, "It's nothing. Don't mention it."

I kept thinking of that the rest of the day as we walked back to Engeve after we'd assured the Cheagles they would not be harmed any further. As an extra, I spoke with the ligers and made an agreement with them that once my journey was over that I'd return to them, but only if they promised to be friends with the Cheagles and coexist. Strangely enough, they seemed to be in favor of the promise.

After mommy's death, they had been driven away from the forest and had been forced to live on the plains where they were easy targets for hunters and stronger monsters.

"It's all right now," I told a child that was crying for his mother to take him home, "I'll take you back to Engeve now. Asch, Sync, come on!"

"Right!" Sync said.

"Aren't you unnaturally cooperative today?" Asch smirked.

"Oh shut up! You're just jealous Natalia spends more time with Guy than you!"

"I am not!"

"Oh yeah, then are you maybe missing Dist?"

"...You little bastard..." Asch shuddered.

"Ooh... or you're just dreaming about the replica?" Sync suggested and jumped away from Asch's punch.

"OK, when this is all over, I will murder you, Sync!" Asch promised. It's so nice that those two enjoy such a friendly relationship.

For some reason, the way to Engeve seemed much faster this time around than when we went to the Cheagle Woods, probably because of the relief I felt that the children were safe and sound.  
Sync obviously was trying to be friendlier towards me, at one point even asking me if I was tired and needed help carrying those who had fallen asleep. I had of course shrugged him off, but he'd offered me help nonetheless.

Rose was overjoyed to see that we'd rescued the children and even more so when she heard that the bandit threat was dealt with. We'd of course not told her the full details of the rescue mission, but she still looked at me and told me I should be more careful next time.

"Someone as young and beautiful as you should not risk her life like that, but still thank you so much! We'll remove all accusations from you and let you keep your... pet," she looked nervously at Fenrir, who was currently chewing at her shoe.

"Fenrir! Sit!" Sync said, causing the silver wolf to reply with some words that better not be written.

"Fenrir... didn't your mother tell you not to use such foul words?" I laughed as I patted him.

"Anyway, I'll let you stay at the inn for free tonight. Consider it our thanks, and also, I'll arrange for the shopkeepers to let you take some of their goods." Rose said, "Now, get some rest."

I thanked her, but also said that we could not accept the items for free, causing Asch to almost choke on the apple he was eating and stare at me with widened eyes.

"Oh well, in that case, I'll at least order them to lower their prices. Also, take these," Rose said and handed me a pretty big bag of items, among which were some food items, a wide variety of gels – including one special gel – and some holy bottles.

My hands were shaking when I accepted the bag and went to the inn with my friends.  
I really liked this town and Rose was so kind to us, despite us being strangers. As we passed the townspeople, many of them looked at us as if we were heroes and many of them thanked us for our deeds.

"Oh crap!" Sync said when we reached the inn and found the man who had been really angry with Fenrir yesterday standing by the entrance.

"You!" he shouted, and ran toward us. I braced myself to be hit, but he instead shook our hands.

"You sure saved this town out of quite a pickle. I apologize for yesterday, please, stay here for free!" he said quickly. It's surprising how people change.

"Whew, I'm beat!" Sync said when we finally got a room at the inn. Unfortunately, they had only one room for the three of us, but the problem was that there were only two beds.

"Um... you guys sleep in the beds, I'll take the floor. Fenrir, cuddle up to me to keep warm." I said, feeling my cheeks getting hot.

"Are you sure? I can sleep on the floor if you want. Or you two can –" Asch teased, but shut up when the two of us shot him a glare.

"I'm warning you, little girl, I can sometimes bite in my sleep." Fenrir said before he remembered that I was the same person who had almost destroyed him with my Mystic Arte mere days ago.

"So can I, in fact. I think we'll get along pretty well!" I laughed.

"I'm turning in. Sync, don't wet the bed, please, we don't need more problems than we already do." Asch said.

"Ok, good n – hang on! Who wets the bed?" Sync spat back at the older God-General, who simply turned to the other side.

Some minutes later, they both were sound asleep, despite it still being noon outside. I yawned, I also wanted to sleep, but before that, there was something I wanted to do.

I took out my bag and searched it until I found Anise's letter.

"_To Gloomietta from Anise_" was written on the top with Anise's messy handwriting (not that mine was any better, though, with me having lived in the forest for so long, I learned the alphabet only some years ago). For a moment I hesitated, fearing the contents of the envelope. What if she wanted to resume the duel from where it had ended? No, then she would have just let me get killed by daddy so long ago.

What would Legretta have done? Would she have opened it or would she have ignored it?  
Still, I was myself, and I wanted to know what she was saying. I gently unsealed it and found a letter inside. With shaking hands I took it out and read it in my head in order to not wake the boys.

It said the following:

"_Dear Arietta, I hope you'll understand what I am about to say._

_The Ion I killed and the one you loved were not the same. The Ion I killed was a replica of the original – the one who saved you and whom you were appointed to protect. The commandant has been lying to you this whole time, as have the other Oracle Knights, because we feared you would kill yourself if you learned the truth._

_But the commandant – no, Van, has been using you. I will never forgive him!_

_I understand you probably still hate me, but please forgive me. I don't wanna fight you anymore. I am sorry for Ion and for your mommy, but Mohs forced me to get Ion to read the Planet Score, if he didn't... my parents..._

_I wish to start anew, and I hope that one day, we can meet again as friends, not as enemies and start over as just Anise and Arietta.  
If you wish to kill me, I understand, but if you can forgive me, I want us to meet. Please, reply in that case to my letter and we'll decide where to meet._

_~Anise Tatlin, Oracle Knight_

I put down the letter and sighed, relieved that she wanted to become my friend.  
I was not surprised about Ion – I had suspected as much every time Largo got furious at Dist when the researcher talked about the Fon Master. Dist was the one who had invented Fomicry, after all, and the one who had revived it, so it made sense.

I had been such a fool in the past, relying solely on my feelings and on my monster friends, never once realising that what I was doing was wrong. Had only I thought things over more thoroughly, then maybe my life would have been completely different. Still, I knew that now was my chance to change, to finally achieve my dreams.

My life begins now!


	8. Chapter 7: Visions

**Chapter 7: Visions**

_Sync's POV_

_Dammit, I'd been so close and – no, I don't care!_ I knocked the thought out of my head and reflected on my actions of yesterday:_ Great idea, Sync, deliberately going on ahead and fighting the enemy just to get some stupid girl's attention! Still, she had been so nice to me, and I must say, she's really beautiful when she's not trying to kill you and – SHUT UP! She's Ion's!_

Ever since she saved my life at Tataroo Valley, I couldn't stop thinking about her, it's so infuriating! Ion – the original Ion, the one I was created from, not the goody-two-shoes replica – had been such a fool by ignoring her.

I wanted to kick myself, to destroy my body and mind out of pure frustration. Asch wasn't making things ANY better!

"Why, our little Sync's in love," he'd said the other day when I'd not stopped looking at her.

"Dammit! I'm NOT in love. Love is for weaklings, for wimps... for originals. Replicas have no purpose, and I am the worst of them all, I should never even consider it!" I spat back.

"Really? I think you might have a chance with her if you try," Asch cheered me on, but ended up only fanning the flames of my anger. I grabbed him by his collar,

"I won't even bother! If you even imply that preposterous idea one more time, then I'll kill you and dump your body in the river!" I'd yelled, which of course caused Arietta to give me another one of those looks of hers and forced me to stop.

I didn't want to lie to her about my identity, but she would have hated me if I told her I'm a replica, so I had no choice! Still, she was so naïve that she believed my words and started being nicer to me.

When we had our heart-to-heart talk yesterday, I'd felt that something within me finally became at peace. I was actually serious about my wish to change, to become someone of my own identity, so that she could maybe accept me.

Due to these thoughts in my head, it was impossible for me to sleep for a long time, and thus I woke up first. The sun was just rising and it was still dark outside. Asch was snoring like a rappig on his bed – he was just so disgusting that I could not even explain it!

I got up and scouted the area. I found a bottle of water and drank it to satisfy my thirst, and then I looked down at the other two occupants of the room. Fenrir was growling in his sleep, his one paw carefully wrapped around Arietta. Damn! She was usually beautiful, but in her sleep, she was angelic. She was wearing her traveling clothing and her bubblegum pink hair merged with the wolf's silver and caused the weirdest combination of colors. Even just by looking at her, I felt my heart beat faster.

Perhaps I'd inherited part of my original's memories. I knew he had been a true bastard – even worse than myself, but also that he had cared very much for Arietta, probably even to the point of loving her.

"Mommy..." she muttered in her sleep and I could see a small tear slithering down her face.

"I just know I'm gonna regret this someday," I said and took out a small handkerchief and gently wiped the tear away.

She seemed to be in such a deep sleep that she didn't even notice my presence, and she seemed to be holding a piece of paper. I crouched down and took it from her, reading it.

"By Lorelei!" I whispered upon realizing that I was reading a letter from that Anise girl. The one who had tried to kill Arietta! My blood pressure rose, damn that little wench! I would wring her neck with my bare hands, even if it's the last thing I'd do!

I frowned and returned the letter into the sleeping girl's hands. Her expression was so peaceful and gentle that I realized she was dreaming peaceful dreams now. I felt happy for her when I thought about that. If anything, she deserved to be happy.

"_Indeed she does..._" a male voice that sounded very much like Van's echoed in my head, startling me.

"W-what the hell?" I grunted. The voice seemed to cause a headache.

"_There is no need to be alarmed, Sync. I will do you no harm. Now, step outside so we can talk."_ The voice ordered and I was about to say that I wished to be left alone when all of a sudden, my body started moving on its own.

"Let go of me!" I whimpered in vain as my body opened the door and I found myself outside.

"_Now we can talk, Sync,"_ The voice said, _"Do you have any idea of who I am?"_

"No, and I don't care either! Let go of my body!" I retorted and clenched my fists, ready to punch whoever was responsible for this little trick.

"_That hurts a little. I am Lorelei, aggregate essence of the Seventh Fonon."_ The voice replied.

"No freaking way! You're a myth!" I spat back. "I'm sure Dist must've invented some new toy or whatnot!"

"_I am as alive as yourself, but maybe not for long. Van has captured me and is planning to use me to create a new world inhabited by replicas,"_ Lorelei said, its voice sounding very sad.

"Tell me something I don't know already," I replied coolly.

"_Very well: to accomplish that plan, he will need a great source of power that uses the Seventh Fonon at the same time as the other Fonons. Remember, I must die for his plan to succeed, so he'll need some other source."_

"A replica," I uttered, my voice almost a whisper now.

"_Indeed. But not any replica, he needs one incredibly powerful. One that has the potential to wipe out the entire planet,"_ Lorelei paused, _"please, Sync, help me. Their plan must be stopped, or else you all shall die."_

"Okay, okay! Just stop these darned headaches!" I yelled in outrage, "does this replica have a name?"

"_Indeed she does. Her name is Ge... N...M..."_ Lorelei's voice was beginning to fade, probably due to Van realizing that Lorelei was getting back its power.

"Wait, use that body-controlling thingy you used first," I ordered.

"_I am sorry..."_ Lorelei said and once more, I felt myself lose control over my body. I found a piece of paper and jotted down some notes, then I gasped and lost my connection to Lorelei.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, but instantly felt stupid for talking to a wall. Then I looked down at the note Lorelei had made before we lost connection. Two words were written on it: "Gelda Nebilim"

_Nebilim? Why did that name sound so familiar?_ I was certain I'd heard it somewhere before.

A memory flashed in front of my eyes:

"_Are you sure this will work?" _I'd asked Dist while we were researching the replica at Choral Castle.

"_Indeed it will, though he is nowhere as perfect as professor Nebilim," _Dist had replied in a dreamy voice.

"_Who was this Nebilim woman anyway, you refer to her so often, it's annoying as heck!"_ I'd snapped.

Dist had floated over to me on his chair and given me a very annoyed expression_, "Silence! The professor was a hero who helped me in more ways than you can imagine!"_

"_Well, she certainly could've done a better job on about 99% of her work," _I spat at him,_ "I mean, she couldn't even teach you the human language!"_

"_Shut up!"_ Dist screamed.

So apparently, Van was trying to resurrect some person named Nebilim, that Dist held in a very high regard. None of it made any sense to me, but from what Lorelei had said, she seemed like a dangerous opponent. If only Lorelei was still around, I could've asked it, but unfortunately I didn't know how.

"We'll have to ask Dist when he find him," I decided, then the door creaked and Arietta stepped outside.

"Can't sleep either?" I asked her in a kind voice.

She nodded timidly, "Yes. I heard your voice from the hallway and went to investigate. Are you all right?"

"As hell I'm not! I think I'm going crazy here!" I snapped, causing the girl to shudder and hide her face behind her monster doll. I felt guilty.

"Sorry, didn't mean to shout. Let me explain, maybe you can help me figure it out," I told her about my telepathic connection to Lorelei and how he'd warned me about this woman named Nebilim, but decided it was best not to tell her about the letter.

"Lorelei? You can hear it?" she asked in bewilderment, I'd expected as much from her, anyone would be shocked.

I nodded, "Yeah, but I'm more concerned about this Nebilim. I dunno why, but the name seems to frighten me somehow."

"Mm... Perhaps Dist may know. I for one have never heard of anyone called that, though there was an Oracle Knight with that name, but she died long ago. That's what Ion said anyway," she replied.

"Did she die on duty?" I asked, but Arietta didn't know. She hadn't cared about it when she was a Fon Master Guardian, so she hadn't got the faintest idea. I knew asking Asch would be pointless, because he'd only start asking stupid questions.

Then Arietta got a genius idea: "Maybe if we look it up in Daath, we might learn about her. Once we find Dist, we can get on a ship to the continent of Padamiya and from there on it's just to find a way to disguise ourselves and enter Daath."

I approved, but my intuition told me that we wouldn't get the chance for a long time.

"Say, Arietta, where do you think Largo is?" I asked, worried to hurt her feelings.

She smiled, "I think he's all right, Sync. We'll encounter him one day, I am sure of it!"

My whole body flared up, "How about we take a walk?"

She seemed very surprised to hear that from me and I for one had never wished to die more badly than now, out of pure embarrassment! "I mean, it's fine if you don't wanna, but..."

"O-oh, well, I guess it's fine. I mean, the others won't get up for a while anyway," she said.

The air was magnificent; it was so fresh and fit well with the rising sun over the awakening village. I let Arietta lead, but she decided to walk by my side in case my wounds had not healed yet. A fresh breeze blew by and made her long hair blow in all directions, causing me to sneeze.

"Oh, sorry," Arietta blushed, but I just told her it's all right, which it really was. She did not realize what potential she held and I felt happy to be her friend.

We walked by a wagon selling apples when both our stomachs rumbled. We both laughed, "Let me help you!" I said and took two apples from the carriage and put twenty Gald in their place, since the shopkeeper still hadn't woken up.

"Here you go," I handed the apple to Arietta, and for some reason it made her blush. Her voice stuttered when she thanked me, was I really that nasty? Though, I had been acting like an asshole towards her this whole time, so I understood her quite well.

I looked at her another time and saw that her face had gotten paler all of a sudden. I asked her if she was all right, and though her reply was positive, I saw that something was wrong.

"Please, don't ask..." she said, "I'm afraid that is something I wish to keep secret."

"Let's go back," I said, "I think we've taken long enough of a stroll for today!"

She was about to reply, but then she frowned, let out a small sigh and fainted.

"Arietta!" I cried out and crouched next to her, checking her forehead, and to my shock felt it was hot enough to be used as a frying pan! I felt powerless as I watched her and... I was afraid? What was happening to me?

I felt as if some unnamed power awoke inside me – all conscious thought vanished from my head and I took her in my arms and ran for the inn. I could not believe what I saw: the whole inn was on fire! Instinctively I readied myself for battle, but the unnamed feeling didn't allow me to. I knew if I fought the enemies, Arietta would get more hurt. I looked down at her, she was in pain and sweat drops fell down from her forehead rapidly.

I called to Asch, but did not find any answer, "Dammit! Asch, answer me! I'm sorry I insulted you, just come out!" I pleaded, but again there was no reply. Then I heard a cry for help and saw the innkeeper being helped by Fenrir. The man was buried under the rubble and his leg was wounded, and Fenrir was way too big to help him.

"Hey, monster, take care of Arietta while I help the old geezer!" I cried and gently laid Arietta down next to the monstrous wolf. He barked something back at me, but I didn't give a damn about what he said for now because I noticed that the fire was spreading to the next house.  
Using my agility and strength, I broke through the charcoal and wood that had trapped the innkeeper and used one apple gel at his leg, thus healing his wound enough for him to run away.

"Wait, what about you?" he asked me nervously, "You won't survive if you stay here!"

"Don't worry, Sync the Tempest of the Six God-Generals won't die so easily!" I assured him before ordering him to help the other villagers. He reluctantly agreed.

"Wait, two others were here just before the fire started. One was a very beautiful blonde woman and the other a fat old man that really resembled Grand Maestro Mohs," the innkeeper told me before rushing off.

"Shit! They found us!" as if on cue, I instantly heard gunshots from the east. Fenrir, who had taken Arietta on his back with some help from the innkeeper, rushed ahead. They didn't call me the Tempest for nothing – if I wanted to, I could run as fast as the wind and it was maybe the only thing that averted crisis in this situation.

As it was, I found Asch crouching before Legretta and Mohs, the latter of which having a demented look on his face, while Legretta looked saddened. Asch's sword had been thrown away by an attack and the red-haired man looked like he was being tortured, with several cuts and gashes.

"What're you waiting for, finish him!" Mohs exclaimed, but the female God-General did not move, though both her guns were aimed at Asch's head.

"Asch!" I yelled and before thinking, I lunged at my former superior, knocking the guns out of her hands.

"_Die! Reaper's Toll!"_ I cut Legretta in the arm, but as expected I did not do nearly enough damage to her and she managed to counterattack.

"_Come forth, oh Light! Rage Laser!"_ she yelled and blasted me with her aura energy. I flew up a few meters into the air and fell hard on the ground, too damaged to fight further.

"HA HA HA HAHA! Splendid, wonderful! Just as I'd expect from a God-General," Mohs laughed, "How does it feel, Sync, to be bested in battle?"

"You little... I'll kill you!" I muttered, though we both knew that it would take a while before I recovered from Legretta's attack.

"Now, once you're dead, Master Van will finally grant me unlimited power," Mohs smiled, "And the world shall be mine! No more opposition of the Score, and The Order shall reign in eternal sovereignty!"

"Over my dead body!" Asch said and drew his sword to strike down the Grand Maestro, but Legretta anticipated the attack and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying into another building that had caught fire. I heard screams from some civilians.

"Silence, you cretins!" Mohs yelled and summoned a dark thunderbolt that he fired at the house.

No way! That spell belonged to the Fon Master! I closed my eyes in horror as the house was entirely destroyed and when I opened them, I saw a critically wounded Asch clutching the charred remains that once was his blade; behind him two very scared civilians.

"It'll... take more than that... to kill me..." he said and fell unconscious on the floor. He had saved the civilians, but it had cost him his blade and his body. So I was alone and damaged against two of the most powerful Oracle Knights.

I wanted to wring Mohs's neck so badly. I would avenge Asch and... Arietta! The thought of her dying made me furious, so furious that it felt like the entire universe's rage all gathered in my body. Ignoring my wounds, I leapt at Legretta and rapidly hit her with all my power.

"_Take this! STONE DRAGON ASCENT! For my friends!"_ I yelled and hit the ground with my fists, causing it to erupt in the form of a huge dragon, but my rage had fueled the Arte's strength and it hit Legretta hard, knocking her over, but I was not done yet; the fire provided an excellent source for Fire-elemental Fields of Fonons and just as Legretta was about to rise again, I smiled maniacally and sadistically.

"_Prepare to perish! Cyclone Blaze!_" The God-General was encircled in a colossal firestorm which spawned fiery blades to slash her. With a grunt, she fell to the ground, defeated.

"I... I surrender," she begged, "Please... no more..."

"You're both so pathetic, it's no wonder Van does not need you anymore. Even you, Legretta, are nothing before the might of Nebilim!" Mohs laughed, "Once she awakens from her slumber, you shall be destroyed!"

"What're you talking about?" Legretta coughed, rising up while she cast a healing spell on herself to regain strength.

"Why, you don't know? Van needs someone to kill Lorelei once its role is finished, but in order to do that, he needs a new god, and we already have a candidate that more than fits that role! So, we don't need you anymore, and you'll be executed as traitors before the glorious New Order of Lorelei!"

Mohs grinned, "The first we'll execute will be the little girl. After all, we cannot allow her to reach her full potential and know the truth about herself, can we? That would be a big problem for all of us – uaah!"

The last part was from Legretta shooting him, though he jumped out of the way, "W-what are you doing?"

Legretta gave him a look that could kill anyone, "Do you think I'll accept being insulted like that? Commandant Grants loves me, and he would NEVER betray me!"

"Ha! Looks like you are too blinded by love to see the truth, Giselle. You of all people should know what he's trying to do," Mohs said and prepared to cast a Fonic Arte, "but no matter. You don't need to know, because you will die in this town. I have been ordered to dispose of you, consider this a favor. Now, DIE! _Black Hole!_"

I could feel time and space distorting and my powers being drained as Mohs' Arte opened a rift in the air that was quickly drawing us in.

"No! Sync, Legretta!" Arietta's voice was heard and before I could say anything, Mohs was hit with a _Limited_ and his spell was canceled.

"I'll fight too!" Arietta said as she ran over to us. She looked a lot better now and it was hard to imagine her being sick.

Mohs grimaced, "My poison didn't kill you? But... even with the Curse Slot and the poisoned apple... just what are you?"

Legretta's face became blood red with fury, "YOU POISONED HER? YOU SICK SON OF A BITCH!" she drew her guns, "Sync, Arietta, let's kill this bastard, now!"

I didn't trust her, but it looked like we had no choice. Mohs had already recovered from the spell and had called some Oracle Knights to his aid. Asch was still hurt, though he had woken up, but his forehead was bleeding and a local girl was rubbing in apple gels to stop the bleeding. I had no idea where Fenrir was, but I knew he was probably helping the townspeople.

_Arietta's POV_

We were greatly outnumbered, but our strength was superior. Mohs had around twelve Oracle Knights on his side, and I'd sent Fenrir to help Rose put out the fire, so we were three on thirteen, not counting the fact that Sync had been hurt in the previous battle and so had Legretta, though she was much tougher than him and had healed herself enough to fight despite her damage.

Mohs had used a Curse Slot to manipulate me into eating a poisoned apple, a spell he'd stolen from Ion and that he must have used on me while I was hurt from my battle with Anise, but hearing my friends in danger had dispelled the effect of both curses.

"This will be fun! Kill them all and ensure there's nothing left of this city to bury afterwards!" Mohs laughed and so the battle commenced.

Each of us had four Oracle Knights to take care of, but most of them stopped when they saw my size and mistook me for a small child. That gave me the opportunity to strike and I easily got them down with a well hit _Bloody Howling_, though they were different from ordinary Oracle Knigths in the sense that they actually survived my Fonic Arte. "What the?" I yelled as one of them slashed at me, but I jumped away from the blow and quickly cast the same Fonic Arte, taking advantage of the lingering effects of the previous one and killed one of them.

"You little witch! Time to die for real!" Mohs yelled and summoned some icicles at me, but I quite literally danced out of the way and ran out of the Arte's range. I knew this would take forever if I didn't do anything to distract them from attacking Legretta, who right now was fighting a group of seven, most of whom had been scared away by Sync's skills. Taking in the surroundings of Engeve in flames I felt a new knowledge appear in my head.

"_Burn, Flame Burst!"_ I yelled and fired off four fireballs at the closest Oracle Knight and indeed, it was a wonderful distraction because the instant the fireballs touched his armour, he yelled in pain because the metal get extremely hot.

"Legretta, Fifth Fonon on their armour!" I cried out to my superior, who now was fighting only six Knights. I saw the seventh one lying dead on the ground with a bullet through his armor. Legretta nodded and used the fire to cast a stronger Fonic Arte:

"_Wither in these flames, Searing Sorrow!"_ she yelled and summoned a gigantic fireball that took out two at once.

I and Sync combined our powers to take out the remaining Oracle Knights, but even more of them came, meanwhile Mohs had made his grand escape, though I later heard witnesses say they saw him being chased into the sea by a gigantic Silver Wolf.

"You won't escape!" the captain of the Oracle Knights yelled and drew his sword.

"Hey, Arietta," Asch said as I readied myself for yet more fighting.

"Yes?"

"Please... don't destroy that dude's sword."

I sighed, "why not do it yourself? _The power to help, Healing Circle!_" my spell worked wonders and Asch stood up, though his weapon was burnt to cinders.

The Oracle Knights charged at us and this time, they were at least forty men, all wielding longswords that could kill quite effectively.

By the time they reached us, though, over half had been shot by an assault by Legretta and those who had survived the barrage, got smashed by Sync's strength or my Fonic Artes. Even though Asch lacked a weapon, he was still a master Fonist, though not as strong as myself or Legretta, he was a very versatile fighter and thus with our combined efforts, we managed to wipe out the entire force save for their captain.

"For Fon Master Mohs!" he yelled and charged at Legretta, knocking her bullets away with his sword.

"Hey don't destroy my future sword!" Asch whined and Legretta told him to shut up. Honestly, he reminded me of Luke so much at times that it was nearly comical.

"Together, Legretta!" I said and we cast _Holy Lance_ at the same time, impaling the enemy. The captain collapsed on the ground.

"Fon... Master... Mohs..." he said with his dying breath.

"You're wrong. There was only one Fon Master, and his name was Ion!" I said and looked at the enemy with contempt.

Afterwards I, Asch and Legretta worked together to put out the flames and in half an hour Engeve was back to normal, suffering no casualties among the citizens, though the town's beauty had been severed by the flames and fighting. Nonetheless, Rose thanked us and proclaimed us heroes of Engeve.

After that came the moment of truth, I walked up to Legretta.

"What are you going to do now?" I asked her with concern in my voice, fearing that she would reply that she is too loyal to Van and that I would have to fight her again. In truth, however, she did not know.

"What Mohs said bugs me, what if he spoke the truth? It is true that ever since returning from the Core, Van has been speaking of someone named Nebilim, and he has also been working with creating even more replicas than he did before. Is he really trying to replace us?" Legretta answered solemnly before continuing:

"I can't go back, not after what I heard. If it is true, then he will kill me. That in itself is not important, I deserve to die, but what I fear the most is that he's trying to replace us all. If he did that, who would be the replica and who would be the original? I don't want to be a reject." She finished.

I grabbed her hand tightly, "You're not a reject and never will be! You're like a sister to me, please, if you're unsure about Van's loyalties, then go with us and ask him when we see him next. I won't fight you!"

"You rely on your emotions too much, to the point of being a slave to them. At the same time, I am no better." Legretta said and closed her eyes, "give me some time to think this over, please." She walked out of the room and closed the door.

"Legretta..." I muttered and was about to go after her when Sync and Asch stopped me.

"Don't do it, Arietta. She just got rejected by the only person she loved, give her some time alone." Sync said.

"Indeed, the best thing we can do now is waiting for her reply and tomorrow we'll set out for the Fubras River, with or without Legretta. We have to find Dist and Largo and kill Van before he revives Nebilim!" Asch crossed his arms,

"Sync informed me. Looks like we all have a role to play now. I have also informed the replica about it, though I have no idea what he thinks he's doing! I mean, _why_ is he 'sightseeing' in _Mt. Zaleho_ with that Tear girl?"

I felt my eyes well up with laughter. Asch still had a way to go in some points of life. I sat down on Rose's couch. They were right, the best thing to do now would be to wait for Legretta's answer, and if she remained loyal to Van, we would have to eliminate her. I had to brace myself for possible combat against her whom I respected the most.


End file.
